Out of the Blue
by E.E. Smith
Summary: Left stranded and alone at The Little A'Le'Inn, Elizabeth finds herself hitching a ride on Graeme and Clive's RV, none of them expecting the simple road trip to turn into an alien encounter and a fight for survival. (A retelling of Paul with the addition of my character). Rated T for now. Graeme/OC
1. Comic Con

**Probably the most niche category I've ever written for. This is more written out of my own enjoyment than anything else, but if you enjoy it please do review and let me know if you want more. **

**Like I say, this is just for fun, honestly, if I get one review I'll write it for that one person. Hehe, enjoy!**

* * *

Elizabeth's boyfriend did not get Comic Con.

While she squealed and excitedly spoke about all the people she could see around, flinging her Wonder Woman wig over her shoulder and posing with other girls who'd had the same costume idea (which was a lot), he stood a little ways behind her, looking thoroughly displeased and embarrassed to be there. She wasn't quite sure why she had brought him, she guessed it was because she hadn't wanted to go alone, but with his huffing and whining she had started to wish she had.

"Seriously? You wanna get in another line?" He said with genuine irritation as she stood behind another guy in a Boba Fett costume. She looked up at him, becoming increasingly annoyed herself.

"Yes, Kevin Conroy is the greatest Batman voice actor of all time." She said matter-of-factly. "I've gotta meet him, you know how much I love the animated series."

"We've been here for _hours_."

"Yeah, and I'm gonna be here for hours more. One, because it's awesome, two, because those tickets were freaking expensive." She spoke in hushed tones, not hiding her irritation. "If you're hating it so much why don't you go to the bar across the street." She hissed.

He scowled at her. "Maybe I'll do that." He turned and stormed off, disappearing into a huge gaggle of people. Elizabeth frowned, willing herself not to get upset and taking the increasingly itchy long black wig off her wavy blonde bobbed hair.

At the beginning of their relationship, Josh had been only too pleased to pretend to be into all the nerdy stuff that Elizabeth liked, and she was only too ready to believe that she would have so much in common with a tall, good looking, brown haired guy. They'd been together a little over a year, by the time of San Diego Comic Con, he'd completely given up on pretending to care about her Batman obsession, her love of sci-fi, her encyclopaedic knowledge of pretty much any film and pretty much anything she had an interest in. It turned out for her that once you got past the good looks, her boyfriend was pretty damn boring.

The best Elizabeth could do was put her relationship worries out of her mind and enjoy the day she had been looking forward to since she heard Comic Con existed. She'd saved and saved, and finally there she was, soaking up everything she had got enjoyment from her whole life.

She wandered past a display of replica Sonic Screwdrivers, grinning and wishing she had the cash to buy, and felt something tug at her cape.

"Hey Wonder Woman." She turned round and to see a little girl of no more than about seven, with her who was obviously her dad in a Han Solo costume behind her. The little girl was dressed as Batman and looked incredibly cute.

"Could she get a picture with you?" Her dad tentatively asked.

"I really like you're costume and you're blonde like me." The girl said, and Elizabeth's heart melted.

"Oh, of course. You want to pretend to fight?" She asked, smiling brightly. The girl nodded enthusiastically, and her dad stepped back with the camera. Elizabeth raised her fists dramatically, as did the girl, and they looked at each other with mock begrudging. The camera flashed, and they relaxed, laughing.

"See you soon Batgirl." Elizabeth said, and tapped her head.

"It's Bat_man_, Wonder Woman." The girl corrected. "He's cooler."

"You're so right, kid." Elizabeth praised, chuckling, her dad thanked her and they went off, leaving Elizabeth feeling like she'd just met her younger self.

She checked her watch and realised she had only ten minutes to fill before the Adam Shadowchild signing. She's seen in interviews he seemed like kind of a dick, but he had written some of her favourite books since she was a chubby teenager reading alone in her room. After moving from stand to stand, buying various amounts of comic books and memorabilia she came to various stands on alleged UFO sightings and mysterious happenings, something she'd never believed it but always found very interesting.

She skirted passed an Ewok and examined the stall of a guy who was selling Close Encounters memorabilia, and smiled, glancing around at the other exhibits.

"Graeme, another Wonder Woman costume for you." Clive said sheepishly, nodding over the Black Mailbox model they were both admiring. Graeme looked up to where his friend was looking, and saw immediately what had caught his attention. He'd probably seen too many movies, he thought, because everything did seem to slow down around the blonde who was wandering through the crowds of people and stands. Not only was her very quality costume fitted perfectly to her very Wonder Woman-esque figure; but the messy waves of blonde framing a bright, bespectacled face gave her a very cute edge. She looked up from flipping through a book, and noticed he was looking, before he hastily looked away with a blush, he could swear she sent him a small smile.

"Alright," Clive elbowed him. "Perve."

Elizabeth was still smiling to herself when she tucked the book back onto its shelf and straightened the bags on her arms. It wasn't like her to smile at strange men, but there was something about the nervous looking, ginger-haired guy that caught her attention. His flushed face was evident from across the room and there was something incredibly adorable in his embarrassment, with his friend nudging him in the ribs.

It wasn't the last time she saw the pair that day. When it came to queuing for the Shadowchild signing, and Elizabeth excitedly bounced on her toes, holding her book to her chest, she noticed she had inadvertently got behind them, and overheard their own excited conversation.

"Big fans?" She dared to ask, and the ginger-haired one jumped slightly at the sound of a female voice. He was slightly surprised and a bit pleased to see her, and hoped it wasn't too evident on his face. Pretty girls made him nervous anyway, pretty girls in Wonder Woman costumes at Comic Con were a whole other thing.

"Owner of a Jupiter Praxis first addition," Clive said proudly.

"That makes two of us." Elizabeth grinned back.

"Really?" Graeme said, was more than a little shocked.

"Yep. I'm kind of a huge fan of any moderately cheesy science fiction." She laughed, glancing at her red boots.

"Us too." Graeme said quickly. "Clive's a writer."

"And Graeme's my illustrator."

"Oh cool," Elizabeth smiled, "would I have heard of any of your stuff?"

"No, unpublished as yet." Clive said, and took from under his arm his bound manuscript. "That's our most recent collaboration." He handed it to her, and Graeme looked a little embarrassed. She couldn't help but want to laugh a little at the cover, the quality of the art was great, it was just the typical tacky sci-fi cover that got her. She didn't laugh though; they were both so sweet and earnest about it.

"Wow, nice." She flicked through and back to the front page. "Three tits, awesome."

Clive and Graeme both looked a little relieved and pleased with themselves when she went to hand it back.

"Keep it, we've got loads." Graeme said, and she thanked him and tucked it neatly into one of her bags.

"Next!" It was their turn to go forward in the line, and honestly, Elizabeth was a little disappointed.

"Well, it was nice meeting you guys, good luck with the book." She said, with a small wave.

"Thanks. See you later." Clive said kindly.

"It was really nice meeting you too, I like your costume," Graeme said quickly, not really realising what he was saying. "Uhh, yeah, bye." He smiled, rushing to catch up with Clive at the table.

She laughed a little, "Bye."

When they had finished their signing, Graeme deliberated suggesting they wait for the girl to finish so they could talk to her a bit more, but time was getting on and they both had a lot to do. Unfortunately, the last he saw of her was as he glanced back to see her nervously smiling and pushing her hair behind her ear as Adam Shadowchild signed her book.

"She was really nice wasn't she?" He said to Clive, who shrugged.

"She was alright."

He spent most of the evening thinking about Wonder Woman, except this time she was blonde.

* * *

**Oh God, I wish I could go to Comic Con. Review please!**

**-EJ**


	2. The Little A'Le'Inn

To say that Josh was hung-over the next morning was an understatement. Elizabeth woke up in the hotel room to the sound of retching and groaning coming from the bathroom, and her boyfriend's clothes strewn messily over the bed. She sat up, frowning, and let out a sigh, rubbing the grit out of her eyes. If anything the weekend had showed her it was that he was a bigger jerk than she ever expected. The sooner they got back to Phoenix the better, and so Elizabeth dressed quickly and packed up both their things while he groggily showered and dressed.

"Do you really have to wear a Star Trek t-shirt every day?" He asked as she clipped up her dungarees over the distressed picture of the Enterprise.

She looked at him with a little hurt, and slipped on a sneaker.

"I don't wear one every day..."

"No, sometimes you go real sexy and wear a Battlestar Galaxia one." He replied sarcastically. She fasted up her shoe.

"It's Galactica." She mumbled, and he rolled his eyes.

Given his state, it was left to Elizabeth to do the driving across country, and after a few stops at different food outlets; they were well on their way on the long dusty highway towards Nevada. Josh suggested they extend their weekend in Vegas, but Elizabeth dismissed it, blaming it on her lack of money and not on wanting to avoid spending much more time with him.

"Look, how long are you going to be pissed at me for not enjoying that thing?" He eventually said after a long silence. The evening was drawing in, and Elizabeth was getting sick of the stretch of road in front of her.

"I'm not pissed at you for not enjoying it, I'm pissed at you for not even sticking around for _me_." She looked at him briefly before drawing her eyes back to the road. "The amount of shitty indie bands I've been to see just because you wanted to go."

"You said you liked them."

"No I didn't, I just never complained. _You're_ the one that pretended to be into all this stuff you really weren't. I don't understand why you hated the Con so much."

"It was full of weirdo nerds who were staring at you." This comment really made Elizabeth angry, she gripped the steering wheel.

"Those 'weirdo nerds' are some of the nicest people on the planet. Just because they don't spend their lives drenched in fucking irony and cool disinterest. There's nothing wrong with _liking_ things, Josh." Her volume got gradually louder. "And by the way, when you say weirdo nerds you include me in that, I was a weirdo nerd when we started dating and I'll be one until we break up." She spotted a motel up ahead, and decided she needed to stop driving and calm down. They were on the Extraterrestrial Highway, which explained the alien theme of the place.

"You won't have to wait too long for that." He snapped back. She scowled, and took a sharp left turn to pull into the parking lot of the place. There weren't many vehicles there, just a big RV and a couple of cars. "What are you doing?" He sighed with frustration.

"I'm getting a cup of coffee." She said brusquely, and turned off the engine, unbuckling her belt quickly and throwing open the door of the car. "I've had enough of your shit."

He got out too, slamming the door behind him.

"_You've_ had enough of my _shit_?" He walked to her. "Do you know how many girls I could have had over the past year? But no, I stuck with _you_. I watched your stupid shows and movies and went to comic book stores and shit, and for what?"

"Well that's awful nice of you! Thanks for not cheating on me when you had the chance! You're such a _good_ guy." She bit back. "If it's been so fucking awful being with me then why didn't you dump me sooner?"

"You know what? I have no idea. You're a freak, and you should be dating one of those fat Comic Con losers." He said venomously. She strongly fought the urge to punch him and instead gripped the car keys in her hand tightly. Tears stung her eyes at his words, reminiscent of high school, and there was a long silence in which she didn't speak.

"Fuck you." She eventually said lowly. "Here, take your car, and go the hell back home yourself." She threw the keys square at his chest. He still looked angry, but realisation of how mean he had been began to dawn as she opened the trunk and took out her bags.

"Don't be stupid, how are you gonna get home?" She slammed the trunk shut.

"My dad'll come and get me." She turned on her heel and walked away toward the Little A'Le'Inn.

"Elizabeth!" He called after her. "Come on!"

She simply held up her middle finger.

"Fine! Enjoy being stuck here!" He yelled, ripping open the car door.

She completely ignored him, willing herself not to cry as she went inside, shaking a little with anger and not really thinking through what she had just done.

The place was mainly empty but she barely noticed, thinking through in her head what she was going to do now, so many miles from home. Usually, she would be thoroughly enjoying the over-the-top alien theme of the restaurant and looking forward to a chocolate milkshake. Instead she was just trying not to cry.

She sat herself at the bar and set her bags down next to her, and let out a long breath, putting her fingers in her hair and resting her elbows on the counter. The first thing she had to do was trying to call her dad, but of course, because it was just her luck, there was no signal to her phone. She groaned and tucked it back in her pocket, thinking it was a stupid idea to ask him to drive that far for her at the drop of a hat.

"Well, you look awful blue." The peroxide blonde barmaid leaned in front of her. "Why the long face, hun?" She asked kindly, chewing on some gum.

"Oh," Elizabeth looked up and forced a smile. It was always nice when a stranger noticed you needed talking to. "Nothing I'm fine... A beer would be really nice though." She let out a small laugh.

"Coming right up." The woman turned around and busied herself finding a cold bottle in the fridge.

"Um, hello." The sound of the man a few seats down surprised her and she jumped a little. "Sorry." He quickly apologised. She was more than surprised to find it was the cute guy from Comic Con, Graeme. "We've met haven't we?"

"Yeah, Graeme right?" She smiled. She wasn't exactly sure why she was pleased to see him, but it did make her feel a bit better to see a kind face.

"Yeah," he was surprised she remembered his name, "I never asked yours, sorry."

She nearly laughed; he did like to apologise. "Elizabeth." The woman set her beer down in front of her, and she thanked her and took a swig. "Crazy to see you here of all places, what are you doing?" She asked, making conversation taking her mind off her situation.

"Oh, we're on a road trip of the American North West. Visiting sites of major extra-terrestrial importance." He said, looking a little bit embarrassed.

"That's so cool. I've always wanted to do that." She said honestly. She'd never dared asked Josh to do it. The thought made her feel a little sadder. Graeme frowned when he noticed that the mascara under her eyes had smudged a little and she'd come in looking upset.

"Not to be nosey but... Are you okay? Seems a bit of a weird place to be on your own." He asked with concern as she tipped back the bottle in another deep drink.

"I've had better days, to be honest." She said. "Turns out my boyfriend hates the fact that I'm a nerd, thinks he could do much better and doesn't take much persuading to leave me in the middle of nowhere." She laughed wryly. He felt extreme dislike towards this boyfriend of hers he'd never met. "To top it off I have no phone signal and no way of getting home to Phoenix."

He looked at her as she messed with the hem of her denim dungarees, and if he had the guts he would have offered her a hug.

"Erm," He noticed Clive emerge from the toilets across the room, "Just a second I think I can maybe help you out." He said, standing from the stool and briefly touching her shoulder. She looked at him with confusion as he crossed the room to the guy she recognised as his friend Clive and they spoke in hushed tones, occasionally glancing over at her.

"Graeme, I'm not sure. We have no idea who she is." Clive said.

"Come on, she seems really nice and she's in distress, we can't just leave her." He said beseechingly. "And I'm pretty sure she's wearing a Star Trek t-shirt."

"Oh now I get it. You just want to get in her knickers." Clive replied.

Graeme shushed him, "_No_, I just don't want to leave a nice girl alone in the middle of nowhere when we're going in her direction anyway. Come on... She was nice about your book."

Clive paused, considering his friend. "Alright, fine." He conceded. "We'll take her with us."

Graeme smiled, happier than he should have been that they were going to take her, that was if she accepted. They both walked over to her, looking a bit sheepish as she irately tried to get some signal on her cell phone.

"Elizabeth." Graeme said, swinging his arms a little. She looked up at him, and he noticed she had very stormy grey eyes under the thick rimmed glasses she wore. It distracted him from what he was going to say a bit, and Clive took over.

"We were wondering if you'd like to get a lift with us. We're stopping in Arizona anyway." He said politely. She could have jumped up and kissed them both.

"Really?" She said happily. "Are you sure?"

"'Course. It's no trouble at all, you can sleep in my bed." Graeme said quickly. "I mean, I'll sleep on the couch, obviously." He laughed nervously. "Unless you don't want me to." Another nervous laugh, and he shook his head at himself, looking thoroughly embarrassed, as seemed to be his default setting.

"And as long as you don't mind us making a few stops on the way." Clive added.

"Of course, I don't want to ruin your vacation. You won't even know I'm there." She jumped off the school. "Oh thank you, you guys." She hugged Clive tightly, who tapped her back, blushing, "you have no idea how great this is." She moved on to Graeme, who was immobilised at the feeling of her soft body pressing against him.

"Can a buy you guys a drink?" She asked, sitting back down beside them. They looked at each other and sat down.

"No thanks." Graeme said and they tapped their full glasses.

"A bumper sticker or something then." She offered. "Please, I need to do something." She said, smiling earnestly.

"Alright then." Clive conceded.

"Excuse me, miss." Elizabeth called the barmaid. "Can I have a look at your bumper stickers?"

"Sure can." She replied, and went looking on the shelves behind her. "'Watch the Skies' or 'Alien on Board?'"

The two men looked at each other again, before agreeing on "Alien on Board."

"Alien on Board it is." Elizabeth grinned, and she slapped the sticker down.

"If you're sure."

"Thanks, Elizabeth." Graeme said, looking at it.

"So, how was Comic Con?" The barmaid asked.

"We met Adam Shadowchild." Clive said, picking up his mug. Elizabeth took another swig of her quickly emptying drink. There was something really comfortable about being in their company.

"Who the hell is Adam Shadowchild?" She asked.

"Oh he wrote The Venusian Pangenesis." Graeme said like she would know what that was.

"I didn't read that one." She replied.

"Jenny Starpepper and the Great Brass Hen?"

"Nah," she woman shook her head.

"The Robot's Mistress?" Elizabeth suggested, noting the two guys look at her with impressed expressions.

"I like romances." The woman said.

"It's kind of a romance," Graeme pointed out.

"Between a woman and a machine?"

"Uh, yeah." Graeme replied.

"I hear that!" She chuckled, and the three laughed.

"Do you get a lot of UFO types round here?" Clive asked, and Elizabeth gave him a look that said 'seriously?', the barmaid was nice enough to humour him though with the reply of 'some.'

"Do you believe in this stuff?" Elizabeth chipped in. "Y'know, aliens landing and all?" She set down her empty Budweiser bottle.

"Oh yes I do." She nodded. "Been a lot of strange happenings in these parts."

"Aliens though?" Elizabeth raised her eyebrow sceptically.

"It'd be a shame if we were the only souls in the universe." She said simply.

"Well, probability alone suggests not. You know, there are 200 billion galaxies in the observable universe." Clive said, and Elizabeth thought on it for a moment.

"Ah, makes you think doesn't it?"

"What?" Clive and Graeme said, they seemed to do that a lot.

"Where is everybody?"

There was a brief silence in which they were lost in thought, genuinely pondering her question.

"Boo!"

Elizabeth jumped a bit, but Graeme and Clive yelled, making her laugh along with the barmaid.

"Gotcha." She said, as they laughed breathlessly.

"Good one." Elizabeth high fived her.

"So, are you guys set or can I getcha something else?" She asked.

"Oh, I'd like a refill of coffee please, Pat."

Elizabeth made a mental note of her name.

"How about you pumpkin?" She asked Graeme.

"Could I have an ET malt please?" He asked.

"Ooh, make that two." Elizabeth smiled childishly.

"Mmhmm, you want that with a sparkler?"

She looked between them, and Graeme and Elizabeth sent a slightly sheepish look to each other across Clive.

"I'll take that as a yes." Pat said and winked before disappearing into the back.

"She's nice isn't she?" Elizabeth commented, stretching out her arms.

"I think I might do a toilet." Clive said, using an expression Elizabeth hadn't heard before.

"Again?" Graeme asked incredulously.

"You know I've got a child's bladder!" He replied defensively, and Elizabeth chuckled at their exchange, moving up into his seat as he went into the stall marked 'Maliens.'

There was a brief quiet as they looked over the bar, the alien pictures covering every wall and the typically Western music on the jukebox making the place feel like a nirvana for nerds. Elizabeth caught Graeme's eye, and smiled at him. She did that a lot and there was something lovely about it.

"Thanks again. You two are helping me out so much." She crossed her legs.

"Oh, don't worry about it." He assured her.

"I have to be honest, I'm a little excited to see all the stuff you're gonna be looking at."

He looked at her, "Really? Do you believe in all that stuff?"

"I dunno," She shrugged, "I do believe that we can't be the only intelligent things in such a vast endless universe, but I'm not sure that I believe aliens are crashing in the American Northwest all the time. Just seems too... Far-fetched."

"Far-fetched is more fun though isn't it?" He pointed out, leaning toward her a bit. She noticed he smelled like soap and clean clothes, and then she noticed she noticed what he smelled like.

She smiled, "You're not wrong."

This was the moment when the front door opened again, and too men came in, one older than the other and with a handlebar moustache. They both wore hunting clothes and spoke loudly with broad accents. Well, the older one spoke, the younger one just sort of laughed dumbly along with his friend. To Elizabeth's horror, Graeme made the mistake of joining in the laugh. They both instantly stopped and looked at him, affronted.

He made an uncomfortable face like he was going to sneeze, and wheeled round on his stool at the same time as Elizabeth, keeping his eyes firmly on the comic book in front of him. Elizabeth couldn't blame him for being a bit intimidated by these men, and made brief eye contact that said, 'do not turn round.'

"What?" The moustached one said confrontationally, "I don't know you."

Elizabeth chewed the inside of her mouth, wanting desperately for Clive to come back so they could leave.

"Hey!" And he did, oblivious to the two scary men at the table. "An alien just sicked up in my hands." He spoke loudly, his enthusiasm catching the attention of the men. Elizabeth screwed up her face, willing him to shut up.

"Clive..." Graeme said quietly.

He laughed and shook his shoulders, taking the stool instead at the other side of him.

"Hey, I'm joking. They've got a soap dispenser in there shaped like an alien's head. It's brilliant!"

"Someone's here." Graeme whispered.

"Someone scary." Elizabeth slyly added on. Clive glanced back at the two eyeing them up, and turned back round.

As if things couldn't get more awkward, Pat now came in the room, holding two frothy, sparkling chocolate milkshakes and making her own sound affects to boot. She set them down in front of them, Graeme looking like he very much wanted to melt into the floor as the younger one laughed.

Pat noticed them, "Hey fellas, what can I do for you today?" She asked, walking round the bar to them.

"What is this some kinda gay bar?" The older one asked gruffly.

"No, just a place where you can get a bite to eat and maybe share a close encounter." She jovially replied.

"Yeah. Sounds like a gay bar to me."

Clive chuckled nervously, "Oh, no we're just friends." He gestured between him and Graeme. Elizabeth just hoped they hadn't noticed her yet.

Pat offered them both beers, and they rudely replied that she should go and get them, when she turned round she subtly nodded for the exit saying they should leave. Elizabeth quickly nodded, not needing to be told twice and scooped up her bags, abandoning the shake on the bar. Clive and Graeme didn't hesitate either, standing from their seats and swiftly making for the exit. Elizabeth picked up Graeme's abandoned bumper sticker, and tugged his arm when he span back for it.

"Hoo-ee." The younger one said, "Didn't see you there cutie." He directed at Elizabeth, Clive was already out of the door as Graeme and Elizabeth walked past the pair, but he stopped, not about to leave her with them. She didn't reply, fighting off a disgusted shiver and rushing out of the door, shooing Graeme in front of her.

They rushed to the RV, and Graeme ran round the back.

"Seriously?" Elizabeth said, as he put the sticker neatly on the bumper, "That couldn't wait?"

"No."

She couldn't help but laugh as they rushed to climb in the bus. Graeme sat in the passenger seat beside Clive, and Elizabeth sat on the couch.

It was quite nice inside actually, more spacious than she expected and with all the accoutrements necessary for a road trip. She noticed there were various comic books scattered everywhere and a rubber Gorn mask that she'd been tempted to buy herself. All in all, it seemed a pretty decent place for her to spend a long amount of time, even if it was with people she didn't know so well.

"Those guys were weird." She said, plonking her bags beside her and glancing out of the window.

"Definitely not our kind of people." Graeme said.

"Don't worry," Clive started the engine, "I doubt very much we'll be seeing them again." The RV reversed barely half a meter before there was a loud crash and judder.

"Shit." Elizabeth said, looking out of the window.

"That wasn't there truck, was it?" Graeme said worriedly.

"No." Clive said, pulling the stick shift.

"Should I go and have a look?"

"No!"

Quickly, he pulled away and out of the parking lot, Elizabeth was totally sure it was their trunk, but very glad to be speeding away from it down the highway.

The sun was setting by this time, and Elizabeth was glad to enjoy the sight of the cast Nevada desert through the window, with the occasional shadowed mountain in the distance. It really was beautiful even though it was eerily barren, and she could see why people got such a 'Close Encounters' feeling off it. She gathered they were on their way to the Black Mailbox, something she'd read about on the internet before, and got herself comfortable in the back. Graeme came to sit with her after a while, putting a cup of tea down in front of her and sipping his own.

"Thank you," she said, unfamiliar with someone being so considerate, "and thanks for not leaving the bag in. Americans are terrible for that." She sipped it, and was surprised that he'd made it as sweet as she liked.

"You're welcome." He replied, "Not too bored are you?"

"No, you two are funny." She smiled, "And I bought like fifty Batman comics at the Con." She tapped the pile beside her.

"Big Batman fan?" He asked, liking her more and more.

"The biggest," she admitted, "My bedroom is like a shrine to everything Batman. The books, the cartoons, the movies, the games."

"I'd like to see it." He said unthinkingly, she raised her eyebrow, smirking.

"You'd like to see my bedroom?" She questioned, slightly enjoying embarrassing him.

"No, sorry, I mean... I didn't mean it like that."

"I _know_!" She chuckled, putting her hand on his arm. "Don't be so embarrassed, I'm only messing with you man."

He laughed, relaxing a little bit, although he was glad when she took her hand of his arm, it was distracting. She shifted to rest her back against the side of the couch, bending her legs up and picking up one of her comic books, the tips of her sneakers resting against the side of his thigh. It was an oddly domestic picture, and he couldn't help but smile to himself, pleased that she seemed so comfortable with him. He couldn't help but notice how pretty she was every time he looked at her. It was like he was seeing her for the first time every time she smiled at him.

It was almost dark by the time they arrived at the Black Mailbox, but it didn't stop Graeme and Clive's giddiness as they pulled up the RV and got off.

Elizabeth kept back from a bit, feeling as if she were intruding a little on something that was clearly important to the two of them.

"The Black Mailbox." Graeme almost whispered.

"Spooky." Elizabeth said, eyeing the sticker-covered object.

"This is probably the coolest thing I've ever seen." Clive said, as Elizabeth took out her phone to take a photo.

"Do you remember when we googled it on your mum's computer and the phone rang and you thought it was the FBI." Graeme said, taking a picture himself.

Clive glanced sheepishly at Elizabeth who was trying not to laugh.

"I didn't really think it was the FBI." He laughed it off.

"You started crying."

"I had jetlag."

"We'd only been to Brussels."

"Leave him alone Graeme." Elizabeth giggled, "Me and my friend Lucy were convinced our principal at school was the Demon Headmaster so we tried setting up an elaborate trap outside his office door. Long story short we ended up crying, covered in custard and feathers."

They both laughed at her story, and Elizabeth chuckled at the memory, taking another picture.

"Go and stand next to it." Graeme said to Clive, who walked over and leaned on the box. "Smile." The flash went off, and Elizabeth took a picture for her phone too. "Your turn." He said to her.

She sighed, "Fiine," she went over to the box, and sat herself on top, crossing her legs and sticking out her tongue while they took a picture. She jumped off, "Now it's your turn Tyra." She said, taking out her phone while he went to stand next to it.

"Hey, imagine if we got buzzed by a craft." Graeme said.

"That would be amazing wouldn't it? It just, hovers overs us then all our coins go magnetic, and then we get sunburned. Then it just goes up really quickly." He spoke fast and sounded a little like a ten year old boy, especially when he imitated the flying saucer sound. Elizabeth laughed, and took a picture of Graeme, who winked in a way that was surprisingly, unintentionally charming.

"What would we do if they actually landed though?" Graeme asked.

"Well, first contact is a big responsibility isn't it?" Clive said genuinely, "They come in peace we go to pieces? Nah, that's not how I roll."

Elizabeth chuckled, "Personally, I can't say I'd be so brave."

"Would you be scared?" Clive asked.

She shrugged, "Would depend on what it looked like. I mean, what if it was like Jabba with the short arms and the tongue," She did an impression that made them both snort, "That'd be pretty scary."

The sudden sound of tyres screeching and a car honking in the distance got their attention.

"What the hell?" Elizabeth said, looking down the road. Bright headlights came into view over the horizon, and she immediately felt a tad scared.

"Do you think that's those men?" Graeme asked.

Clive shook his head unconvincingly, "No..."

"You think we've seen enough here guys?" Elizabeth added, inching towards the RV.

"Yeah, let's go." Clive said, and the set off, "Go, go, go." They all broke into a jog, all but leaping back into the vehicle as the car approached down the road, Clive wasted no time in getting it started, and Elizabeth stood between the seats at the front, holding tightly onto the backs as they sped off. They couldn't be sure, but it definitely looked like they were being chased.

"Shit those guys were huge." Elizabeth said worriedly.

"This is like Deliverance!" Graeme whimpered.

"They're going to rape us and break our arms." Clive said, looking in the mirror.

"I don't want my arms broken!"

Elizabeth bit her lip.

"They are _not_ going to rape us and break our arms. Come on guys." She said firmly, looking in the rear-view mirror herself. The car was swiftly approaching the back.

"Don't let them get passed!" Graeme said.

"What do you want me to do? Ram them?"

"Yeah!" Elizabeth said through gritted teeth without hesitation, her adrenaline building up.

The car beeped it's horn and pulled up to the side, they looked out of the window to see the car merely over take and speed off in front of them, the horn beeping. Elizabeth let out a long, relieved breath, leaning forward.

"It's not them! It's not them!" Graeme said gratefully, Clive signing and touching his chest.

"Christ almighty." Elizabeth groaned, calming herself down, her heart racing. The two laughed and high fived, Graeme patted Elizabeth's back.

"That was terrifying." Clive said.

It turned out, the three didn't have much time to be relieved, the car that had overtaken them suddenly swerved into a ditch, the tyres screeching and sparking as the momentum made it bounce along the road. They all screamed as it span off into the dust at the side, and Clive slammed on the brakes, nearly sending Elizabeth flying through the front window, Graeme instinctively grabbed hold of her waist with one arm, pulling her against the side of the chair as the RV stopped completely.

They all breathed heavily for a second, completely shaken.

"Phew." Clive let out.

"Holy shit." Elizabeth realised she was gripping hold of Graeme's t-shirt quite tightly and promptly let go. He released her waist.

"Are you both alright?" He asked, looking from Clive up to her.

"I'm alright." He assured.

"Fine, fine." She breathed, running a hand through her hair. "We should check out that car." She said, steadying herself, and making her way over the broken mugs on the floor. Graeme and Clive nodded and stood, looking around in a small cupboard and finding out two sets of head-torches. Graeme's made his hair stick up oddly, but it was not the time for Elizabeth to find it funny.

"There's only two." He said apologetically.

"I can do without." She assured, as they made their way out of the RV and into the dust outside.

The car seemed less damaged than it could have been, just badly dented with one light out, and the driver's door was open. They looked at each other, promptly shining the light in one another's eyes, and made their way over to the car.

"Hello?" Clive called.

"You okay man?" Elizabeth peered inside the damaged car, but there was only broken glass and dust.

"Maybe you should call for help." Graeme said to Clive, who promptly took out his phone and dialled.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The strange voice behind them caused them all to gasp and quickly turn round, Clive still holding the phone to his ear.

They couldn't see anyone though, only faint moving in the shadows. It was unnerving to Elizabeth, and she glanced around for anything the could use as a weapon, instead just clenching her fist and holding onto Graeme's wrist. They breathed heavily, and she could swear she heard Clive gulp.

"Put. The phone. Down." The figure slowly walked out of the shadows, hands up, and Elizabeth was not prepared for what she saw. Clive laughed madly, making her jump, and fell dead onto his back. Elizabeth looked from him, to the creature.


	3. Cup of Tea?

"Wh- wha- I-" Was all that came out of her mouth as she backed up to the car, feeling as if she had been punched in the chest. He- it- was like nothing she'd ever seen before. Well she had, on TV and in movies, and books, but not really for real, standing in front of her at about four feet tall, grey skin, a huge head and eyes like crystal balls. She scratched the metal of the car behind her, wanting to turn and run away but her legs completely failing her.

"What have you done to him?" Graeme asked, his voice a few octaves higher than usual.

"I didn't do anything to him. He fainted." The... alien... said simply. Elizabeth shook her head, her thoughts becoming one scrambled mess.

"Y-y-y- you made him faint." Graeme stammered out.

"Yeah but it's not like I set my phaser to faint." He smiled a little... the alien.

"You've got a phaser?" Graeme and Elizabeth gasped in unison, Elizabeth with her backside pressed firmly against the car.

"No, I don't... Look! Listen." He took a few steps forward.

Elizabeth let out an inadvertent noise, somewhere between and whimper and a small scream, and Graeme's stumbled back as he walked over to them.

"You... You're." She pointed at him, her throat dry. "I- what-"

"Hey, I really need your help. You wanna get this guy back on your wagon?" He picked up Clive's feet. Graeme let out a series of stammers much like Elizabeth, moving his hands around. Elizabeth wasn't sure if it was weirder that he was an alien, or if he was talking perfectly normally and sounded just like a regular guy.

"Are you an alien?" Graeme asked fearfully.

"To you I am, yes." He replied normally.

"Are you gonna probe us?" Graeme asked, voice still wobbling.

"Please don't." Elizabeth let out.

"Why does everyone always assume that?" The alien said frustratedly, as if he got this all the time. Elizabeth had not yet let go of Graeme's wrist and was pretty sure she must be cutting off circulation to his hand. "What am I doing? Am I harvesting farts? How much can I learn from an ass?"

"Well I- I- What?" Graeme said confusedly. Elizabeth's eyes were still wide.

"I'm sorry, what's your names?" The alien asked.

"It's Graeme Willy." Graeme replied. He looked at her.

"E-Elizabeth Weaver." She choked, her other hand still making a fist at her side.

"And what's his name?" The alien pointed at the unconscious Clive.

"That's the writer Clive Gollings." Graeme said.

"Okay, cool, I'm Paul." He said.

"Paul?" Graeme repeated, sounding a bit confused. Elizabeth was too, expecting his name to be like Greedo, or something.

"Yeah. It's a nickname that stuck. My ship crashed on a dog, it doesn't matter! Look, can we get the writer, Clive Gollings, back on the RV and get the hell out of here, please?" He said impatiently.

"I can't-"

"Look, I'm in a hell of a pickle, and if you don't help me, I could die on this road tonight." Paul said, sounding quite honest.

"I dunno we're on quite a tight schedule." Graeme said finally, scratching his head. Elizabeth let go of his hand and almost burst.

"What?" She exclaimed. "That's the reason why we're not getting a fucking alien on board with us?" She gestured to Paul. "Look! A FUCKING ALIEN!"

"Hey!" Paul said defensively.

"Am I going crazy?" She touched her head. "Oh my God, I am, I'm going crazy." She said, running her fingers through her waves and mussing them up further. "I must be going crazy because I'm seeing and talking to a fucking alien!"

"Look," she felt Paul touch her hand, his fingers were surprisingly cold, and his skin felt human, but thicker and more leathery. Surprisingly, his tone, and the gesture that proved she wasn't dreaming calmed her down. "Sometimes you just gotta role the dice." He sighed, and looked up at Graeme, "What do you say?""

Graeme made a face, looking torn, Elizabeth let herself breath calmly, and her head cleared a little as Paul moved his hand, blinking over his huge eyes. He let out a few breaths before speaking.

"Okay." He said finally.

"Okay! Great, okay!" Even Paul seemed surprised. In honesty, Elizabeth was, but she couldn't deny that the decision felt like the right one. "Help me grab him." He said, picking up Clive's legs as Graeme bent to get under his arms. Elizabeth slipped her hands under his back.

"This man has peed his pants." Paul said, looking at them both.

"He's got a child's bladder." Elizabeth said, remembering their exchange from before.

"Fantastic." Paul said, as they lifted him. He wasn't the lightest of guys so it wasn't easy to get his limp body from the ground and onto the couch of the RV, but they did so eventually.

It was all such a surreal experience that Elizabeth felt outer body, as Graeme sat behind the steering wheel and started the wagon, and Paul sat in the passenger seat. She stayed sitting at Clive's feet on the couch, unable to stop herself from staring at Paul, as she noticed Graeme kept doing.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" He asked Graeme.

"Well I'm sorry, the speed limit's 70, so..."

"Screw the speed limit!" Paul said, before quickly changing his mind. "Actually, no. Ooh, yeah. Don't screw it. That's good thinking, stay inconspicuous.

"How come I can understand you? Are you using some sort of neural language router?" Graeme asked.

"Actually, I'm speaking English, you fucking idiot." Paul said like it was obvious.

"That's not nice." Graeme said in a hurt voice.

"That was mean. Look, I'm a little tense, I was just involved in a major car crash."

"That was your fault!" Elizabeth piped up, daring to get up and walk to the front of the RV, but staying firmly behind Graeme's chair.

"I can't reach the pedals, my legs are too little. I had to use the parking brake, okay?" He said defensively. Elizabeth swallowed; this was all too weird. "I'm sorry, you're in shock right now. I understand this must be very weird for you. Just act normal and drive north. We gotta get as much distance as we can between us and the Big Guy."

They both looked at him, wondering just how far this went. Elizabeth tried to breath normally again, holding onto the back of the chair.

"Does anybody want a cup of tea?" Elizabeth offered, her hands still shaking, hoping maybe some sugar and caffeine would bring calm her down a bit.

Paul looked at her, surprised, and smiled slightly.

"Tea sounds lovely." Graeme sighed, again wanting to squeeze the woman.

"No thanks," Paul said, "you got anything cold?"

"There's Pepsi in the fridge." Graeme suggested, and Elizabeth went to the kitchen area and put the kettle on. She took a can out of the refrigerator and tossed it to Paul, who caught it in his large hand and cracked it open. Every action Elizabeth took she found herself narrating it in her mind, 'I just threw a Pepsi to an alien,' 'I'm making tea around an alien,' 'I'm chatting with an alien.'

She handed Graeme his mug, and he thanked her and took a sip, liking her even more when he found she made great tea. He handed the cup back to her so he could put both hands on the wheel, and she set it in the cup-holder, taking a drink of her own.

"So uh... Where are you from?" Graeme asked, thinking he should probably say something.

"I'm from a small M-class planet in the northern spiral arm of the Andromeda galaxy." He said, looking at him.

"I've never been." Elizabeth joked weakly, and received a small laugh from Paul and Graeme, surprisingly.

"So, are you guys like, boyfriend and girlfriend?" Paul asked. They both blushed like teens and looked at each other, breaking into mirrored nervous laughs.

"No, no, no no." Graeme stammered.

"No," Elizabeth said, shaking her head, "We uh... We just met yesterday." She smiled a little, 'I'm making conversation with an alien.' "My boyfriend abandoned me in Rachel and Graeme and Clive were kind enough to give me a ride." She explained.

"Abandoned you in Rachel? What a jerkoff." Paul said, looking back out of the window. Elizabeth smiled to herself, feeling like she shouldn't be becoming relaxed around him. "Looks like we're in a similar boat." He said, looking up at her.

"Nobody's trying to kill me." She laughed a little. He shrugged, and hopped off the seat.

"I gotta take a leak." He crossed the RV and went into the bathroom, peeing quite loudly. Elizabeth wondered if his anatomy was similar to humans or if it came out of his nose or something. She wandered over to Clive touched his forehead, but he still felt fine and went back to the front of the bus.

"Hey," she said quietly, resting her hand on Graeme's shoulder, he glanced at it. "Are you alright?" She asked.

"I- I think so," he glanced up at her and back at the road, "Just, you know... Alien." He said, and she let out a small chuckle, moving her hand and picking up his empty can and throwing it in the trash.

"Ugh, I needed that." Paul emerged from the bathroom, adjusting the waistband of his shorts. Elizabeth picked up a bag of pistachios from the counter and offered them him as he sat back down.

"I love pistachios." He said, taking them. "I hate when you get a closed one, right?" He tossed one into his mouth.

"I usually just bite into them." Graeme said, keeping his eyes on the road, Elizabeth leaned on his chair, looking up at the sky in front of them. It was probably the most stars she'd ever seen in her life.

"No. You don't do that at all. You tap them, and if they don't open on your own you throw them away."

"No, that's mussels." Graeme argued. 'I'm watching an alien argue with a guy about nuts,' Elizabeth thought.

"He's right Paul, pistachios are always fine." Her eyes were stinging a little, she still felt mentally pumped but her body was tired.

"No, it's pistachios." Paul insisted. Elizabeth hadn't noticed Clive creeping up behind them before his hands were around Paul's neck.

"What the hell, Clive?" Elizabeth yelled.

"Stop it! Clive!" Graeme said, trying to keep looking ahead.

"What are you?" Clive shouted, and said something that Elizabeth recognised was Klingon but wasn't quite nerdy enough to understand.

"Clive!" She pulled his arm. "Stop it, man!"

"He's fine! He's friendly!" Graeme insisted, "His name's Paul!"

Elizabeth finally got enough leverage on Clive arm to pull him off. Paul gasped for breath as Clive watched him mistrustfully.

"Aliens aren't called Paul." Was all he could say.

"Was that Klingon?" Paul choked. "You psychotic nerd!"

"Listen, Paul is from a small M-class planet in the northern spiral arm of the Andromeda galaxy." Graeme explained quickly.

"And he's totally fine." Elizabeth reasoned, her voice high.

"Thank you." Paul said firmly, rubbing his neck. Clive still breathed heavily, in shock.

"He looks too obvious." He said.

"There's a reason for that, _Clive_." Paul said irately, "Over the last 60 years the human race has been drip-fed images of my face on t-shirts and lunchboxes and shit. It's in case our species do meet, you don't have a fucking spaz attack!" The explanation actually made perfect sense.

"I did not have a spaz attack!" Clive fired up again and hit him, getting hold of his throat.

"Not again!" Elizabeth went to pull enough but there was no need. Clive put his fingers in... something, and they came out slimy.

"That's my jorph! Get your fucking fingers out of there!" Clive pulled away, looking at his gooey hands, "If I get a jorph infection, you're dead."

"Calm down man." Elizabeth grabbed Clive's shoulder. "He's okay."

It turned out they had more pressing problems, as seemed to be the theme of the day. Ahead was what looked like an official police road block, a man in a suit came to stand in front of the wagon, badge in hand.

"Oh my god." Graeme said.

"What the shit?" Elizabeth hissed.

"Paul?" They looked over at the chair to find him gone. She frowned, swearing she never saw him leave.

"Is he hiding?" Elizabeth rushed through the RV, glancing around to see where he went. There was a knock at the door, and they looked at each other in fear.

"Okay, just act natural." Graeme said, getting up to answer it. Clive and Elizabeth nodded, and they opened the door.

"Agents Haggard and O'Reilly." The two men there held up their badges. "Mind if we take a look around?"

"Of course not!" Elizabeth said brightly, stepping back to allow the shorter one in, while they were guided out by the other one, holding a torch and trying very hard to look intimidating. The three stood beside each other, trying their best not to look at all nervous as the RV was searched.

"What are your names?" Haggard asked.

"Clive Gollings." His voice cracked a bit.

"Graeme Willy."

"Elizabeth Weaver."

"What brings you to the US?" He asked, shining his torch in Graeme and Clive's faces.

"We're on holiday." Graeme replied, although he sounded a bit breathless. It wasn't a lie.

"We've been to Comic Con." Clive said, and Elizabeth nodded.

The agent looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "You too?"

"Yeah, I met these guys there, they're giving me a ride home." She said a little too quickly.

"Ah, I knew there was an explanation for it." He said with a slight smirk. She raised her eyebrow, Graeme and Clive looked at each other. "I'm sure if you wanna stick around here for a while me and O'Reilly could give you a ride home." He said, and there was a slight hint of _suggestion_ in his tone. Graeme thought it wouldn't be a great idea to punch an FBI agent.

"I'm cool, thanks." She replied shortly, tucking her hands into her short dungaree pockets, goosebumps on her cold legs. Disappointment briefly ghosted across his face.

"Oh, my god! Look at this!" The officer inside shouted and they all jumped.

"What?" Haggard called inside, jumping to attention.

"Look at this!"

"What?" He demanded again. The trio looked at each other in horror, sure they were already on their way to jail.

He appeared in the doorway, holding a book. "These guys met Adam Shadowchild." He said breathlessly. Elizabeth's knees nearly buckled with relief.

"Who the hell is Adam Shadowchild?" Haggard asked with annoyance.

"He wrote The Jupiter Praxis." Clive said.

"What?" Haggard frowned.

"Jenny Starpepper and the Huge White Gibbon?" Graeme offered. The book titles sounded lamer every time Elizabeth heard them out loud.

"Night of the Moths?" Elizabeth said.

"Are you speaking English? What are you talking about?"

O'Reilly jumped off the bus, looking more like an excited little boy than a hardened FBI agent.

"What was he like?" He asked breathlessly.

"He was a bit intense." Graeme said.

"Well, he's an artist." O'Reilly nodded, sounding every bit the fanboy.

"Let me see this," Haggard took the book, and Elizabeth realised it was Clive's manuscript. What is this, nerd porn?"

Elizabeth looked sideways at Clive.

"It's my novel." He said, messing with his pendent.

"Hah, three tits. That's awesome." Haggard grinned, and Elizabeth nodded, it looked like they were somehow getting away with it.

"You guys should have given her four tits." O'Reilly suggested. Elizabeth made a face.

"That's just sick." Graeme said.

"What else did you find in there?" Haggard asked.

"Not much, just some pissy jeans."

"He's got a child's-" Graeme began.

"Shut up." Clive hissed.

"Sorry."

"Alright, you guys can go." Haggard finally said, gesturing inside. Elizabeth let out a breath.

"Thanks," she said, following the guys onto the bus.

"May I ask what you're searching for?" Clive dared to ask. The two agents considered each other slyly.

"No." Haggard said. Elizabeth bit her lip.

"May _I_ ask?" She tried, stepping a little closer and putting on her ditsiest voice. She saw his face crack a little.

"You ask much nicer," He looked like he was about to break, he cleared his throat. "But still no."

Elizabeth nearly rolled her eyes, nodded, and continued to get back on the RV. The door was closed behind them, and Elizabeth leaned on it and sighed.

"Shit, that was close." She said as they set off around the block, Graeme back in his chair and Clive in the drivers seat. "Where the hell is Paul?"

"I think it's pretty obvious what happened," Clive said shakily.

"Is it?" Graeme said. Elizabeth stood between them, putting her hands on the back of both chairs.

"The government used some kind of neurotoxic paint on the Black Mailbox. It caused us to suffer a shared hallucination about an alien. It makes complete sense." He said like it was the most obvious answer. Graeme's mouth was open a bit. Elizabeth frowned, not buying it.

"Wrong!" Paul appeared on the dashboard, lying on his side and very naked. They screamed, and the van screeched to a halt. Graeme covered his eyes and lifted his hand to cover Elizabeth's.

"Oh, no." Clive groaned, making a face of disgust. Paul hopped off the dash.

"What? Come on; grow up. You guys seen my shorts?" Elizabeth realised she'd stepped on them and picked them up for him.

"How the hell did you go invisible?" Elizabeth asked, handing him the shorts, still a little in shock at how familiar his... anatomy was to that of a human and frankly, it's size.

"Oh, it's a camouflage response." He pulled them on.

"What, like Predator?" Graeme asked, looking back at him.

"Exactly! Although I can only do it while I'm holding my breath." He admitted.

"But you can do it anytime you want?"

Paul lifted his fingers to his mouth, "Anytime." He said, in a pretty spot on Predator voice. Elizabeth and Graeme laughed, as he mimicked the noises.

Clive let out a grunt and banged the steering wheel.

"Am I the only sane person here?" He shouted, "Eh? It's alright for you isn't it? You'll go back to Area 51, we'll be arrested for harbouring a fugitive and sent to Guantanamo Bay!"

"Why don't we make some bagels and coffee?" He nudged Elizabeth. "Leave these two alone." They both walked over and busied themselves at the kitchenette, Elizabeth putting the coffee pot on while Paul looked around in the fridge. They two men talked in hushed tones, and Paul hummed casually as he looked through the cupboards.

"You want one?" She asked, pouring out the coffee into mugs.

"Two sugars please." He replied, quietly, picking up the bag of bagels and taking a few out.

"Anyone?" He slid them onto his long finger. "Huh?" It didn't seem to make Clive feel any better.

* * *

**Points for anyone who can guess the link with Elizabeth's surname. Review pleeease.**

**-EJ**


	4. Dorky Dancing

Nobody really slept that night. Clive, Graeme and Elizabeth took turns driving while the others would dose slightly on the couch or in a chair. Frankly, it was a little hard to fall asleep after making alien contact. Paul occasionally made jokes and generally chatted, flipping through the comic books they'd brought and reading the blurbs of books. As dawn rose, Clive was driving with Paul in the passenger seat, Graeme was dosing on the couch, while a half asleep Elizabeth, clearly not realising or caring what she was doing, lay her head on his lap and curled up beside him. If there was anything sure to make him tense, it was a beautiful girl's head on his thigh. He looked down at her, she looked totally comfortable and content, her eyes shut lightly. He fought off the urge to brush her hair behind her ear. Her small nose had a tiny mole on the side of it, he noticed, and her lips were pouted over her teeth in her relaxed state, pink and plump.

He relaxed his muscles slightly, and leaned back on the couch. He closed his eyes for what felt only like a moment but when he them again the sun had fully risen, and the sky racing past the window was bright and blue.

"I'm pulling into a rest stop." Clive said, "We need petrol."

Graeme nodded and rubbed his face. Clearly Elizabeth hadn't been too deeply asleep, as she sat up, nodding, her eyes half closed and the impression of the crease in Graeme's jeans on her cheek. She stretched her arms, and ran her fingers through her increasingly messy hair.

"Good I need some chocolate or something." She reached down for her discarded sneakers and pulled them on. Clive found a spot at a pump and pulled in, and Elizabeth stood groggily, pleased for the opportunity to stretch her legs.

Paul waited on the bus while Elizabeth, Graeme and Clive climbed off, the two men looked at each other and nodded, putting on a 'there isn't an alien in our van' facade. The sound of the horn honking made them jump.

"Some Reece's Pieces please! Yes." Paul called out of the window, banging on the side of the truck. Elizabeth shook her head and gave him a thumbs up as Clive went to fill up the van and she and Graeme went to the shop.

He went about getting armfuls of crisps and soda, while Elizabeth piled on top until he was having trouble carrying it all.

"You think we're getting too much?" He asked, as she handed him a bag of Cheetos. She gave him a look.

"No." She replied pointedly, and he laughed, before his expression changed.

"Shit." He whispered, looking over her shoulder. She turned, to see a Nevada state cop talking to the guy behind the counter.

"Dude, act casual." She whispered back. Clive appeared behind them.

"Oi, that's a bit much isn't it?" He said quietly. "Put it back."

"Aww." Graeme whined childishly.

"Except the donuts and the burritos, and the chocolate milk. The cheetos, and the chips and those." He said, naming everything Graeme was carrying. "Just hurry up, please."

"C'mon." She led the way to the counter, and the officer let them go first. Graeme dropped the stuff to be scanned, looking nervous.

"That beast outside yours?" The cop asked.

"What?" Clive asked quickly, as did Graeme. She elbowed him sharply.

"The RV, yeah it's their's." She said, getting some gum from the rack and putting it with the rest of the stuff being scanned.

"Oh yes, yes." Graeme said, Clive nodding.

"Where are you guys from?" The cop asked.

"England." The both replied, themselves sounding a bit unsure.

"I heard about England. No guns."

Elizabeth nearly laughed.

"Uh, yeah, not really, just you know, farmers." Clive replied, uncertainly.

"How are police supposed to shoot people then?"

"Th- they don't, they try not to." Graeme said. There seemed to be a tense moment where the cop regarded the three of them, broken by the 'ping' of the register. Graeme paid for their food, and they left quickly, back to the safety of the RV.

"Jesus can we ever just calmly walk back to this place?" Elizabeth set the bag of snacks down on the kitchen counter. "Let's go."

It was Graeme's turn to drive now, and they didn't hesitate in setting off again.

"That was amazing, that cop didn't suspect a thing. And Clive... You didn't pee your pants." Paul said praisefully, making Elizabeth chuckle, she gave Paul his Reece's Pieces and opened up a Snickers herself, taking a grateful bite.

"I don't mean to be a stick in the mud but you are asking a lot of us you know? We've only just met, we don't know where we're going or why. Do you not think we're due an explanation?" Clive said with annoyance, and Elizabeth couldn't help but feel he kind of had a point.

"Look, the less you guys know, the better. I want you to have plausible deniability. Let's just say, I spent a long time of base thinking I was a guest, turns out: I was a prisoner. But don't worry, I got it all under control." He assured them.

The sound of a smack against the windshield and a spatter of blood was what spoiled the equilibrium this time, and once again, the RV came skidding to a halt. As it turned out, a bird had flown into the window, and they found themselves standing around its upside down, dead body.

"Fuck, that made me jump." Paul said.

"And me." Elizabeth sighed, putting her hands in her pockets and experimentally taking out her phone. Still nothing, not that it really mattered at that point anyway, as far as anyone was concerned, she was on vacation with her boyfriend.

"Poor little thing." Graeme said.

"Nothing you could have done, mate." Clive said.

"Let me see," Paul stepped forward, clapped his hands together and picked up the dead bird.

"What are you doing?" Graeme asked; Elizabeth made a face. Things like that freaked her out.

"Just watch." Paul said, looking at the bird in his hands. He closed his eyes, and seemed to concentrate hard on something, making noises of effort. Elizabeth frowned, watching him. Suddenly, the bird sprang to life. She gasped and her eyes widened.

"Oh my god." She said breathlessly, in awe of what she had just seen.

"It's a miracle!" Graeme laughed in amazement.

"Amazing!" Clive smiled as the bird fluttered in Paul's hands. The moment was broken however, when he loudly stuffed the creature in his mouth and swallowed it, tapping his stomach. Graeme's jaw dropped and Clive made a noise of disgust, Elizabeth clapped her hands over her eyes.

"What? I'm not going to eat a dead bird." Paul smiled, seeming amused at their reactions.

When they got back on the RV, there was more of a sense of normality than before, even Clive seemed a tad more relaxed around Paul. They took it in turns to drive for several hours, until it was back to Clive again. Elizabeth wandered round the RV, looking through a pile of CD's she hadn't noticed before. There were a few soundtracks, but that wasn't what caught her eye.

"Holy, mother. Is this an ELO Greatest Hits album?" She picked it up excitedly. "I haven't listened to the Orchestra in forever! Second best band of all time." She rushed to the front of the bus and pushed the CD in.

"This girl is cool." Paul commented. "Switch it to Don't Bring Me Down."

'Of course she likes ELO,' Graeme thought. 'As if everything else about her wasn't already perfect.' The first few chords of the song started, and it was impossible not to instantly be put in a better mood. Elizabeth danced a little on the spot.

"You got me running going out of my mind." She and Paul sang a long. "You got me thinking that I'm wasting my time. Don't bring me down." She took a soda out of the fridge, swinging her hips, and Graeme took longer than usual to avert his eyes from the denim stretched over her bottom. He pursed his lips, flushing. It was a nice one... Round...

"Eyes front soldier." Paul nudged him, and Graeme's blush intensified.

"What?" He feigned ignorance.

Elizabeth came and sat down on the couch beside Paul, humming along to the song, and tapping her foot.

"So you're an artist, right?" Paul said to Graeme.

"Yeah, illustrator." He said.

"Show me whatcha got." He said, holding up his hands. Graeme considered him for a moment, before going into the bedroom and finding a pen and some paper, and seating himself back in the chair across from the couch.

"I'm gonna go take a shower if that's cool." Elizabeth stood, picking up her bag.

"Sure, sure." Graeme instantly imagined her naked. "Take your time."

She smiled, and went into the small bathroom, which just about squeezed in a toilet, a sink and a cubicle shower. She was glad to finally strip off the two day clothes and get under the hot jet of water. She still had her shower bag in her small suitcase, and luckily always over packed shower gel and shampoo.

It was the first time she'd been alone for a while, and finally had time to think about the turn of events over the last couple of days. She'd finally been to Comic Con, broken up with her boyfriend, met two new guys, evaded crazy hillbillies, gone on a road trip, met an alien, dealt with the FBI, developed a crush and subsequently harboured an alien fugitive. She rubbed the fruity smelling shampoo into her hair, and paused when she realised she'd mentally breezed over developing a crush.

Surely, she didn't have a crush on Graeme; they'd only just met. She did like spending time with him though. He was definitely cute, he was talented, and probably just about the sweetest guy she'd ever met. It wasn't like her to rebound, and these certainly _were_ extraordinary conditions. She rinsed off her hair. Rebounding had nothing to do with the way she liked Graeme.

When she emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in a fluffy white towel and cloud of steam, she felt far more refreshed and calm than she had in what felt like days. The RV was slowing down, and as night was drawing in she assumed they were stopping for rest.

Graeme and Paul looked up at her when she came in. Graeme found it a bit hard to talk for a minute. The towel covered her up well enough, it was her skin glistening that was particularly distracting. Her wet hair a little darker around her face, and her cheeks rosy from the heat. It was as if there wasn't a state she could be in that wouldn't look attractive to him, she emanated the smell of fresh feminine soaps as well, all vanilla and jasmine and patchouli.

"We're going to get some food and some sleep for the night." Paul said, as the RV pulled into a place called 'Pearly Gates RV.' Elizabeth looked out of a window, holding the tie on her towel firmly closed.

"Yeah, this is good. Doesn't look like anyone's been murdered here." Paul grumbled sarcastically. Elizabeth couldn't help but agree.

"Hmm, I'm gonna go put some clothes on and just wait for Leatherface to come in and maul me." She said, and went into the bedroom, grabbing her bag and sliding the door shut behind her. She decided just to towel dry her hair and let it dry naturally, finding out some clean underwear, a pair of bed shorts and a nice baggy Simpsons t-shirt. She could faintly hear them talking and a woman's voice outside, and hoped they weren't acting too suspicious. After deciding that it was pretty pointless putting any makeup on, she emerged from the bedroom to the smell of cooking sausages.

She slipped on her unlaced white sneakers and emerged from the RV. Clive was standing at the camp's barbeque, dealing with the food while he and Graeme chatted with Paul.

"Finally. How long does it take girls to put on pyjamas?" Paul joked. "Am I right?"

"I dunno, how long does it take guys to find a g-spot?" She quipped back. Graeme and Clive both laughed, surprised by her raunchiness.

"Look who's coming alive, I like it." Paul commented, passing her a beer, which she took gratefully, and took a long swig. This beer led to a few more for all of them, and Elizabeth faintly heard Marvin Gaye on the radio.

"I like this song," Paul commented, turning it up. "Come on, you know it." He started dancing, coaxing Graeme and Clive along. Elizabeth didn't hesitate in joining in, it was one of her favourite's. It turned out the boys danced as dorkily as her, and she giggled, picking up Graeme's hand and spinning herself under his arm. She considered how he looked adorable without even trying, and he considered that she looked sexy unintentionally. Maybe it was intentional, he was beyond caring.

"Food time." Clive said, putting the sausages into buns.

"Awesome." Elizabeth stopped dancing immediately and picked hers up, her stomach extremely thankful for it. After squeezing copious amounts of ketchup onto her hot dog, she took a large bite, sitting at the picnic table with one leg under her. "Mm," she moaned, "Christ man, you know how to barbeque." She complimented.

"I second that." Paul said, him and Clive sitting across from her and Graeme. She washed her food down with the imported beer, a perfect combination in her opinion. "So, Clive's a writer, Graeme's an illustrator. What do you do?" He asked, getting himself another hot dog.

"Yeah, sorry, never actually asked you." Graeme said.

She smiled and swallowed her bite. "I write scripts for porn parodies." She said deadpan. They all fell silent and looked at her with shock, before she burst out laughing hysterically.

"Oh, bloody hell!" Clive said, chucking a bottle cap at her.

"I actually believed you." Graeme shook his head, and Paul just laughed.

"No, I am a writer though actually, I devise video game scripts." She said, and the two men looked genuinely in awe. "Just small budget indie stuff at the moment, but I did do a little work on Tomb Raider Legend."

"No way! Tomb Raider?" Graeme exclaimed, pretty sure he'd fallen in love with her right then and there.

"We've logged hours on that game." Clive added. "I thought they did all that in England though?"

"No, it's sort of started in England and is made in America, the main writers come over. I just helped out with the dialogue." She shrugged.

"That is so cool." Graeme said, "Why didn't you mention it before?"

She chuckled, "We were a little busy." She gestured to Paul. "Anyway, I bet Paul's worked on some way cooler stuff. Go on, what else did you come up with?" She cracked open another beer.

Most of the night was spent at the picnic table, Paul regaling them with stories about Spielberg and Lucas, and the different characters he was pretty much responsible for, and all of them becoming gradually more tipsy. Clive went to bed first, a little wobbly on his feet, and Paul was not far after him. Graeme and Elizabeth stayed up a little while longer, becoming a little drunker and laughing and giggling like idiots.

"You know, your boyfriend?" Graeme said, feeling particularly bold.

"Ex-boyfriend." She corrected, holding up a waving finger. "Go on."

"He was an absolute moron. Like, a complete idiot." He said, honesty spilling out of his mouth before he could stop it. "You can and will do so much better than someone who doesn't like Comic Con."

Elizabeth chuckled, and looked at him a minute, leaning forward slightly. She noticed it would be very easy to kiss him, and in that moment, she really wanted to. His boldness was wavering though, and as much the picture of weaving his fingers into her lovely, curling hair was a pleasant one, he just didn't have the guts for it, they'd only just met. They looked at each other a little longer, and she saw him glance at her lips.

"Think we should get some sleep?" She suggested finally, her throat a little bit dry. He coughed quietly.

"Yeah, yeah. Long day ahead."

They both stood from the table, and tried to walk steadily toward the RV, leaning slightly on one another as they went up the stairs, and shut the door firmly behind them. The bedroom was already occupied with Clive fast asleep in bed, and Paul on the floor between the beds.

"Oh yeah," Graeme remembered, "I'm sleeping on the couch." He went to walk passed her.

"Don't be silly." She whispered, pulling him back. "I'm not taking your bed."

"No, I insist."

She sighed, knowing she wouldn't win.

"Let's just share. I'm gonna be out like a light anyway." She said, pretending the idea of sharing a bed didn't make her a little nervous.

Graeme swallowed. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." She kicked off her sneakers, and tried to step lightly in the dark, slipping herself under the covers and scooting to the side, leaving him plenty of room in the very small bed. He went to undo his trousers, and looked at her awkwardly, she laughed quietly and took off her glasses, placing them on the bedside table before covering her eyes. She heard his jeans unzip and him shuffle out of them, hearing a soft 'ow' when he clearly almost fell over. She felt the weight of his jeans at the foot of the bed, then his t-shirt, and he fished around in his bag for another one.

When she uncovered her eyes, she found him dressed only in a t-shirt whose picture she couldn't make out in the dark and some space themed boxer shorts. She could see his pink face though, and the urge to kiss him wasn't helped any. She pulled back the covers next to her and tapped them, and he repeatedly told himself that it wasn't an arousing image as he slipped in beside her.

They were pressed together even more than he expected, and there was no way for them to share the one pillow.

"Erm, if I just," she wiggled herself into the crook of his right arm, and rested her head on his chest, the rest of her body fitting nicely against the side of him. "Is this okay?" She whispered. He nodded, it was definitely, definitely okay. His right hand hovered a while his nerves died down, before he rested it on the curve of her waist. She smiled, and closed her eyes, not worrying about feeling nervous, and just enjoying being more warm and comfortable than she had probably ever been.

* * *

**Ooh, getting close. Does anybody else really fancy some sausages now?**

**-EJ**


	5. Don't Be A Baby

The sound of a knocking at the door of the RV woke everyone with a start- bar Elizabeth. Where Clive jumped out of bed and Graeme shuddered awake, she just nuzzled her head against his t-shirt comfortably. He deeply lamented that he didn't have further time to enjoy it. Everything about her seemed soft, her bare leg, which had found it's way over his under the covers, her stomach pressed against his side and her breasts... The less he thought about them the better. He gently shook her.

"Who's knocking? Stop it." Paul groaned from the floor.

"Elizabeth, there's someone at the door." He said softly. Her eyes opened groggily.

"Is it the feds?" She grumbled, sitting up, noticing she had pressed herself quite firmly against Graeme in the night.

Paul went into the bathroom. "I'll hide in here."

"Who is it?" Clive called, getting out of bed.

"It's Ruth!" The female voice replied.

"Don't you dare open that-" Graeme began, but Clive had already swung the door open, and Elizabeth noticed he flattened his hair slightly at the same time. She picked up her glasses and followed Graeme out of the bedroom on unsteady feet, feeling a little exposed in her bedclothes.

"Hey," Elizabeth said to her, forcing a smile, and wincing against the sunlight.

"Morning," she said brightly. Elizabeth noticed that one of the lenses of her glasses was blacked out, and wondered if she was maybe partially blind. "Can I come in?"

Both Graeme and Elizabeth tried to say 'no,' but before they could Clive stepped back and opened the door wider.

"Yeah, make yourself at home." He said quickly. Elizabeth could have smacked him, he was all for protecting their secret until he got a little crush. She stepped back, standing next to Graeme and scratching her messy bed head.

"Not really dressed..." Graeme said quietly. Elizabeth observed his space-boxers again, and almost let out a giggle.

"Did you sleep well?" Ruth asked, them, and Elizabeth nodded, glancing at her t-shirt and not able to make out what it was.

"Yeah was lovely."

"Excellent."

"Comfortable."

They were really bad at not sounding suspicious. Clive had slightly twinkly eyes looking at Ruth, and Elizabeth knew she could spot a budding attraction when she saw it.

"So where's the other one?" She asked, glancing back at the messy bedroom. They looked at each other.

"The other one? It's just-" Clive gestured to them.

"Oh oh, it's okay. We don't charge by the person. There were four shadows I saw dancing around the RV last night, right?" She said. Well, that caught them out. Elizabeth briefly wondered why they hadn't been more careful.

"Oh, the other one." Elizabeth said. "He's uh..."

"I'm in the can! I ate a closed pistachio." He made an exaggerated farting noise. "And I'm paying for it."

Elizabeth was relieved, and Ruth chuckled embarrassedly.

"That's a nice t-shirt." Clive said to her, distracting her from the noises Paul was making in the bathroom.

"Oh thanks, I got it at my church." Ruth moved her hair apart to reveal the picture, and Elizabeth frowned and cocked her head. "It's Jesus shooting Charles Darwin." She smiled. Elizabeth was torn between laughing and yelling and the woman.

"_Of_ course." She said awkwardly under her breath.

"Why would Jesus want to shoot Charles Darwin?" Graeme said with a small laugh.

"Because of his blasphemous theories." She replied straight. "Are you people of God?"

They looked at each other. Clive almost looked like he wanted to lie rather than tell the truth, Elizabeth was never one for pretending to believe in something she didn't believe in. She looked at Ruth, and couldn't really blame her for believing in what she did, but it didn't mean _she_ had to.

"We're men of science, you know." Graeme finally said. "We believe in the establishment of a biological order through the maelstrom of physical and chemical chaos."

Elizabeth nodded along, "Pretty much."

"God created the Earth in six days and on the seventh day he rested." She said, in a way that sounded so rehearsed that Elizabeth felt a bit sad for her, as much as it irritated her.

"Probably tuckered out by then right?" She tried to quietly joke, it didn't go down very well.

"Really?" Paul called from the bathroom, and blew a raspberry. Elizabeth desperately just wanted to tell him to shut up and leave it alone. Ruth pursed her lips, looking irritated and uncomfortable.

"Or it could be God. You don't know, do you? It's up in the air." Clive tried to get her back on side, though he clearly didn't believe what he was saying.

"The world is 4,000 years old and can only be the product of intelligent design." Ruth said, her defences going up.

"Oh that's horseshit!" Paul shouted, and Elizabeth looked at Graeme. Ruth's jaw dropped in an affronted way.

She scoffed, "Alright! Then please explain as something as complex as the human eye simply just comes into being!" She walked over to the bathroom door, really beginning to get on Elizabeth's nerves. She rolled her eyes, kind of wanting Paul to argue back.

"Oh don't give me all that irreducible complexity crap!" He snapped back.

"Something as intricate as that does not just occur, without the intervention of a guiding hand." Ruth crossed her arms.

"It didn't just _occur_! It is the culmination of billions of years of development across countless fucking species!" He sounded genuinely annoyed. Ruth gasped deeply and straightened her glasses.

"What are you talking about?"

"Evolution, baby!" He replied simply.

"Oh!" She banged on the bathroom door and Elizabeth flinched. This was getting too heated. "Blasphemy!"

"Oh, yeah, right, okay."

"Nothing that you can say or do can shake my belief or faith in the sure and certain knowledge that God created heaven and earth and created us all in His own image." She said stubbornly.

"His own image?" Paul repeated. "Well, I got a question," The bathroom door opened and the three tensed up, Elizabeth wondering if she should run over and slam it closed. "How do you explain me?" He pointed to himself angrily.

Ruth didn't reply, just let out a long gasp, and began to fall dead backwards. Elizabeth rushed forward and managed just to catch her under her arms, her legs awkwardly buckling under her as she fell to her knees with Ruth's head on her stomach. Graeme and Clive had scooted backward she noticed.

"And that's Jenga." Paul said.

"Thanks for the hand guys, Christ." She adjusted her squashed legs.

"Why did you do that?" Graeme asked as Clive slammed the RV door firmly shut.

"We've gone through this! They faint!"

"Yeah but we're going to have to take her with us now." Clive said, as Elizabeth shuffled herself onto her bottom with Ruth's body lying on her legs.

"No way man, she's a basket case." Elizabeth said, holding a hand above Ruth's mouth to check she was actually still breathing.

"This is _America_. Kidnapping a Christian? That's worse than harbouring a fugitive." Paul reasoned.

"Yeah but she's _seen_ you," Graeme said, "If she goes back she's going to call the police."

"Who gives a shit? No one's going to believe this God-bothering Cyclops." Paul said, waving his hand to her. "Let's just dump her on the road, we can roll her up in this carpet."

"People are looking for you though. They find a crazy chick in the middle of the highway with no memory of how she got there saying she was last with three geeks in an RV and a fucking alien someone might be inclined to start looking for _us_." Elizabeth pointed out.

"Look, she'll be fine. We might be able to get her on our side." Clive said. "We're nice people."

Elizabeth un-wedged herself from under Ruth and lowered her head gently to the floor.

"Alright, but what about your passport?" Graeme said to Clive. Elizabeth squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. It was just one thing after another.

"Come on, you guys." Paul said quietly, putting a hand on his head. "Okay, I'll go in." He started to take off his shorts. "Be ready out front to go when I get back."

Elizabeth promptly looked away from the nude alien, before he sucked in a breath and left the RV. She sighed, and looked down at Ruth.

"Come on, help me pick her up." She said to Clive as Graeme went in the bedroom to get dressed. Elizabeth went to her legs and picked up her ankles while Clive got her under her arms, she wasn't too heavy, and they managed to lay her on the RV couch, just hoping she didn't wake up before it was time to leave. She noticed Clive looking down at her, and Elizabeth smiled to herself. "She's kinda pretty for a weirdo, right?" She nudged his arm, and he looked up embarrassed.

"If you say so." He defensively replied, and she chuckled.

"Go get dressed, I'll pull us up to the house." She got behind the wheel, just about remembering how to drive wagon's from a family holiday when she was a teen, and started it up. Graeme came to sit in the passengers seat beside her as she pulled the truck out.

"Did you really sleep alright?" He asked. She noticed his Empire Strikes Back t-shirt. It was awesome.

"Yes, you make a very comfortable pillow, thank you." She replied.

"Thanks a lot." He replied with a little laugh.

"Were you comfortable? I was pretty much on top of you all night." She said apologetically. It was true, but it certainly wasn't uncomfortable.

"I have no complaints." He swallowed deeply and looked at her. "We could share again tonight, if you like." He said quietly. She glanced over at him, his cheeks were pink again, and he stopped the RV outside the trailer that was Ruth's house, looking out of the window and not meeting her eye. She figured there was maybe no harm in flirting a little bit.

"That'd be nice and," she noticed Clive come out of the bedroom and stood. She rested her hand lightly on Graeme's shoulder, "If you need somewhere to stay in Phoenix, my bed is plenty big enough for the both of us." Her voice was low and smooth; she didn't stop to see his reaction, just walked across the RV to the bedroom. She wasn't sure if she should be embarrassed with herself or not, but at that moment she was just fiendishly pleased.

Graeme blushed as he watched her go, unsure if her every action was alluring because he was attracted to her, or if it was she was doing it on purpose. Either way, he was sure his blood pressure must have risen, and he gulped and forced himself to act natural.

"You fancy her." Clive said, breaking him from his reverie. Graeme looked at him quickly.

"What? No I don't." He said unconvincingly.

"Yes, you do. I know you." Clive said, resting his arms on the steering wheel. "I can't really blame you mate, she's lovely."

Graeme smiled, "Yeah, she is."

"Just maybe don't let her distract you from the fact that we're harbouring an extra-terrestrial fugitive." He said, brining him back to reality.

Graeme gave him a look, "Like Ruth wouldn't be passed out on that couch if you hadn't been so eager to let her get on the bus." He countered, and it was Clive's turn to go pink. "Eh?" Graeme poked him in the arm and Clive smacked it away, laughing a bit.

"Shut _up_."

The door of the trailer they were watching burst open, and Paul came tearing out, a large man with a shotgun hot on his heels.

"Go, go, go!" He shouted, and held his breath again. Clive started up the RV and the tyres screeched as they rolled down the road to meet Paul, holding what sometimes looked like a floating passport so they could see him. Elizabeth ran out of the bedroom, now clad in a denim skirt and Joker t-shirt.

"What's going on?" She yelled worriedly, as Graeme opened up the RV door, and held out his arms.

"Jump! Jump!" He shouted, and Paul reappeared, leaping into Graeme's arms and sending them both falling back just as a shot hit a mailbox right behind them.

"Jesus!" Elizabeth screeched, reached out and shut the door firmly as they sped down the road. Breathing heavily, Paul got off Graeme and Elizabeth helped him to his feet. "That was way too close." She shook her head, "Are you okay?"

"Fine," he shrugged, panting, and looked around for his shorts.

"Are _you_ okay?" She asked, helping Graeme up.

"Yeah, yeah, fine." He sighed, letting his hand linger in hers for a moment. It was soft and feminine like the rest of her. There eyes met, and she smiled and squeezed his hand gently, before letting go and walking over to Ruth, who was still firmly passed out on the couch.

"I feel a little bad for her." She said, as Graeme sat down in the passenger seat again and Paul stood to look out of the front window. "She's clearly sheltered."

"She's clearly crazy." Paul said, looking, Elizabeth gave him a half hearted scolding look.

"She's not crazy," Clive said lightly, "She just doesn't know any better."

Paul, Elizabeth and Graeme looked at each other, raised eyebrows.

"No need to get defensive, Clive." Paul said pointedly.

"I'm not getting defensive!" He said, defensively.

Clive continued to drive for a good couple of hours while Paul watched Ruth; Graeme and Elizabeth hung out in the bedroom, the door open so they would know when Ruth woke. They were sitting cross-legged on Graeme's bed in front of each other, playing Red Hands. Elizabeth got a point, the sound of her fingers slapping the back of his hand resounding loudly.

"Ow! That stung!" He shook his hand.

"Oh, don't be a baby." She positioned her hands under his. He feigned a couple of times, and she managed not to flinch, before scoring a point: quite hard.

"Ah! Shit." She held her hand, he laughed and made a 'ner ner' face.

"_Don't be a baby."_ He repeated in a high voice. She shoved his arm playfully, knocking him back a bit.

"Ass." She laughed, and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"I like your t-shirt by the way." He said to her.

"Thanks I like yours," She smiled, "It makes you look buff."

He snorted, and blushed, "Not it doesn't."

She grinned, "It does, makes you look hunky. You're a hunk, Graeme." She poked his arm. He smiled at her; she was so cute even when she was making fun of him. He noticed she had a slight dimple in her right cheek.

"Erm, Elizabeth?" He said quietly, not sure when else he would get the chance to say it.

"Yeah?" She leaned forward slightly.

"I know these past couple of days haven't exactly been ideal but, if nothing else I'm really glad I met you." He said, completely honestly, not knowing himself where this bravery came from. It took her aback, it made her tummy flutter and her cheeks heat up like something from a bad movie. She put her hand over his on his knee. He looked perpetually nervous, and his sweetness was overpowering her. She had to kiss him.

"Graeme I-" She wasn't really sure what to say. "I'm really glad I met you too. I mean, this whole thing is crazy but... I really li-"

"Guys! I think she's waking up!" Paul called from the front seat, breaking the pleasant tension that neither had noticed had built up. They stopped looking at each other and she let go of his hand, and quickly got off the bed with him behind her, trying to focus on the matter at hand and not on what she was about to say or do.

Ruth indeed seemed to be stirring, moving her head and murmuring in her sleep. Elizabeth sat herself beside her legs, thinking it best they she wake up to a friendly face.

"Ruth, hi," she said softly, as the girl's visible eye opened, "you okay?"

"Where am I?" She asked shakily, sitting up.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" Graeme stood beside Elizabeth, not really knowing what else to offer. They had, to all intents and purposes, kidnapped her.

"Hey, look who's awake." Paul said, smiling back at them. She looked terrified and scrambled to her feet.

"Demon!" She pointed at him. "Demon!"

"We're sorry, okay, we're sorry, we're not going to hurt you I promise." Graeme stammered, trying to calm her down. "And we'll let you go just as soon as we can."

"You honestly, don't have to be afraid of him." Elizabeth gestured to Paul, trying to speak with reason.

"You've been deceived by an agent of Satan himself!" She stepped back, one hand on the kitchen counter. "He's evil!"

"I'm sitting right here, come on." Paul said as if he were offended.

"No, he's not evil, he's just a bit rude. We're trying to help him get home." Graeme besought, and Elizabeth nodded. "He's from another world."

"Th- there's only one world, our world! The world that our God, the Father created!" She stumbled over her words quickly, almost hysterical.

"If it makes you feel any better," Paul stood up, and Ruth snapped up a fly swatter, and waggled it in front of her, "My existence only disproves the existence of the Abrahamic, Judeo-Christian God, as well as all one world theologies. That's all I meant." Elizabeth really didn't think that was going to help, and it didn't. Ruth promptly fell to her knees and clasped her hands together, singing Amazing Grace and rocking. Elizabeth ran a hand through her hair. This was the equivalent of a child putting their fingers in their ears and screaming 'la la la.'

"Come on, calm down," she tried to touch her shoulder and bring her to reality, growing rapidly impatient.

"... _how sweet the sound."_

"Ruth, come on."

"You can't win with these people!" Paul said exasperatedly.

"_that saved a retch like me."_

"I don't think we can do anything!" Elizabeth sighed.

"_I once was lost." _

"Ruth, just listen for one second."

"You need to listen to us.

"_But now am found."_

"She's nuts! How can you try and talk someone like this?" Paul became increasingly wound up.

"Can you just stop singing please Ruth?" Elizabeth said loudly.

"I can't drive like this!" Clive called from the front.

"Oh, fuck this." Paul promptly took two steps forward and placed his palm against Ruth's forehead, making her go silent and her eye to go wide. Graeme and Elizabeth could only watch, unsure what was going on. After a moment, Ruth let out a soft, dawning:

"Oh." And fell back, as did Paul, grunting.

"What did you do?" Elizabeth rushed forward and looked at Ruth, unconscious again.

"I just transferred my collective knowledge and experience via a tactile psychokinetic bridge." He breathed.

"Wow, can you do me?" Graeme said excitedly, sitting beside him; Elizabeth nodded quickly with wide eyes.

"Yeah, me too?" She shuffled forward on her knees.

"It really takes it out of me." Paul said.

"Oh go on." Graeme whined.

"_Pleease_." Elizabeth nudged his skinny arm. With another grunt, he placed one hand on Graeme's forehead and the other on Elizabeth's, and she saw: everything. Everything she'd ever read about and not understood, places she'd never seen, time before she was born and space that humans had never explored. The birth and death of stars, civilization she had never conceived of. She saw the evolution of man, the beauty of nature, the end of species, all at once. And then the link was broken and she fell onto her back, with a "wow," because what else is there to see after you've seen the world turn?

The three of them woke up a few minutes later, feeling as if they'd slept a good ten hours. Elizabeth looked up at Graeme, and in one look she knew he'd seen everything she had. They didn't have much time to dwell on it though, Ruth got quickly to her feet and stormed off the RV.

"Shit, someone should go talk to her." Paul said, Elizabeth looked and Clive, and knew that while he might have liked to, it was probably best he take a moment to talk to Paul for a change. Elizabeth pulled herself up and straightened out her skirt.

"I'll go." She hopped off the RV and jogged after her. "Ruth!" She called, "Hey!" She picked up her pace. "I'm not fit enough for this!"

Ruth whirled round, crossing her arms, nearly making Elizabeth run into her.

"He- he cannot be from space! It's not possible!" She said desperately.

"But it is, he even showed you." Elizabeth said, remembering how scared she was when she first saw him. "I didn't believe it either, and I know it's scary and weird but it's real. And there's probably billions of intelligent civilisations out there."

"There where is everybody, hmm?" Ruth challenged.

"Well, one of them's there for a start." Elizabeth pointed at the bus, just in time to see Paul mooning them through the window and laughing. "Oh that's gross." She said quietly. She saw Clive say 'sorry' for him.

"Why are you so willing to believe in God and heaven and all that shit and not _this_? If you think about it, this is so much more probable." She reasoned. "I know it's hard for you but you'll come to realise that you don't need God to have a good life Ruth." Elizabeth put her hand on her arm.

"So everything I've been told my whole life, is just a big fat lie." She said, Elizabeth pursed her lips, she didn't know what to say. "Do you know how that feels?"

"No I don't." Elizabeth pushed her glasses up her nose. "But just because what you believed to be true turned out not to be, doesn't mean that nothing in the world is true anymore."

Ruth sighed, "So there's no heaven, no hell? No right, no wrong? No sin?"

"Well... I mean," Elizabeth shrugged.

"I can drink?" She said, seeming to start to realise the possibilities.

"Yeah you can." Elizabeth smiled.

"I can fornicate?"

"If you feel like it." She shrugged again, raising her eyebrows.

"I can curse?"

"Well, yeah."

"Penises!" She shouted smiling, Elizabeth bit her lip, frowning and smiling. "Assing, hairy boobs, poop! Farting buttholes!" She said enthusiastically.

"Dude," she said, "is this really helping?"

Ruth's hands were on her face and her lips were on her before she knew it. There was a brief moment of utter shock before she pushed her away.

"Ah!" She yelled uncomfortably, limply raising her arms, Ruth pulled Elizabeth's hand onto her breast, "Stop it!" She jerked her hand away.

"Why? Why should I stop?" she said manically.

"Because I'm not... I don't like girls." She stammered, not used to be the one feeling embarrassed. Ruth then put her own hand on Elizabeth's right breast, and Elizabeth squeezed her eyes shut, sort of deciding to let Ruth make her own mind up about it. They were just breasts. "Ruth." She said firmly. Ruth now looked a little unsure, making a face of sort of confusion, "That doesn't feel right, does it?" She raised her eyebrow, and Ruth shook her head. "Maybe like... Stop touching my boob." She suggested, and Ruth moved her hand. Elizabeth could only imagine what the boys thought of the sight.

"Look." Elizabeth put her hands firmly on her shoulders. "Your life's just beginning now man. You have plenty of time to touch people and kiss people and decide what you like. Doesn't necessarily mean it has to be me." She laughed a little, and Ruth looked at her feet and chuckled. "Come on, this is your chance to travel." Elizabeth held out her arm to the RV, "Shall we?"

Ruth considered her for a moment and slowly nodded, and the two women made there way back to the bus, far more acquainted than Elizabeth had anticipated. It distinctly smelled like marijuana when they got on, and Elizabeth wrinkled up her nose. The source was Clive, who was leaning back in his chair, and Paul who was doing the same.

"Are you guys getting high?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not." Graeme held up his hands from the couch.

"I am," Clive held up his hand.

"Ruth has decided to come with us." Elizabeth smiled brightly.

"Wickeeeed." Clive said from the front, and Elizabeth glanced at Ruth who looked a little uncomfortable.

"Pretty girls make him nervous." Elizabeth whispered, and Ruth blushed and quietly chuckled.

"I'm gonna go freshen up." Ruth said, and went to go in the back.

"Ruth, hang on a minute." Paul got up and went to talk to her, and Elizabeth moved away to sit next the Graeme on the couch, deciding to let them talk.

"Did she kiss you?" Graeme whispered to Elizabeth, who looked amused and nodded. "And did she touch your..." He gestured to his own chest. "Ahem..."

"My breast? Yeah." Elizabeth said simply, and Graeme nodded and flushed. "She was just a little confused I don't think she's just quickly developed a crush on me." She chuckled, and leaned back on the seat.

"Wouldn't blame her." Graeme said under his breath.

"What?" She asked, not quite hearing him.

"Oh, nothing." He shrugged, and leaned back next to her. Ruth walked over to them.

"Guys," She said, and they looked up. Her glasses were now removed, and her eye looked completely normal.

"Oh my god," Elizabeth stood up, smiling. "Did Paul do that?" Ruth nodded, looking very happy.

"Wow, that looks brilliant." Graeme said in astonishment. "Clive, look." He tapped his shoulder, and Clive stood up, putting out his roll up in the ashtray.

"Oh my god." He said, looking slightly in awe. "That's amazing. Your eyes are so pretty." He said, still obviously a little more relaxed than usual. Ruth smiled, and she blushed. Elizabeth was pleased with her reaction, and grinned.

It seemed like things were finally looking up.

* * *

**Uh-oh, famous last words, amiright?**

**Ahem, do review kindly. **

**-EJ**


	6. Pandemonium Part I

The rest of the day was spent on the road, Elizabeth drove for a little while but apparently her occasionally intentionally swerving and laughing gave Clive heart palpitations so she didn't do it for very long. She talked to Ruth for quite a while, about her job and things that she liked, and Ruth told her a little about her religious upbringing and how protective her dad was. She encouraged Clive to talk to her while Graeme was behind the wheel, feeling the need to pair them together; it was cute that Clive clearly seemed to be attracted to her.

Eventually, Elizabeth, Paul and Graeme were hanging out in the living area with Clive and Ruth chatting up front. Paul was taking cheese balls out of a bag and Elizabeth was catching them in her mouth expertly. Graeme had his notepad on his knee, and was sketching something she couldn't see.

"This is ridiculous!" Paul laughed. "You are too good at this." Elizabeth grinned, and caught another.

"Right, enough, I feel sick." She stood up. "Cup of tea?" She asked, hands on her hips.

"No thanks." Paul waved his hand.

"Ooh, yes please." Graeme smiled up at her. "Have we got any biscuits?"

She nodded, and busied herself in the kitchenette area, humming to herself as she turned on the kettle. Graeme noticed Paul eyeing him.

"What?" He said, shading the rim of Elizabeth's glasses.

"When are you gonna tell that girl you like her?" He said quietly. Graeme quickly cast a worried look back at Elizabeth, who thankfully seemed not the hear him.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about anyone would think you guys are like, newlyweds!" He half whispered, half yelled. "Don't be a pussy, man. She is really hot by human standards right?"

"Well... Yeah..."

"Exactly, if you don't tell her you like her, someone else will eventually." He pointed at him. "You know I'm right."

"Right about what?" She appeared behind Graeme. "Here you go." She put her hand on his shoulder and handed him the mug, not helping with the image that they looked like a couple.

"Pistachios." Paul said nonchalantly.

"Ah, right," Elizabeth chuckled, buying it, and sat back down on the couch. She blew her drink and took a nice, sweet mouthful.

"Hey, Elizabeth, do you have a shirt I could borrow?" Ruth came over, "This feels a little bad now." She tugged on the bottom of hers. Elizabeth chuckled and stood with her mug.

"C'mon, I brought a bunch of spare tops." The two women went into the bedroom and shut the door. Elizabeth dug through her bag on Graeme's bed. "Might be a bit big 'cause you're way thinner than me." She found out a plain blue top she hadn't worn. "This okay?" She held it up.

"Perfect, thank you." She took it. "And thanks for being so nice to me in general."

"Oh, come on," Elizabeth gave her a quick hug, "we _did_ sort of kidnap you."

She laughed, "You think they'll mind if I have a quick nap?"

"No, get some rest, this is Clive's bed," She tapped it, "I'm sure he won't mind."

"Okay," Elizabeth left the bedroom and shut the door firmly.

"She's taking a nap." Elizabeth said, stretching her left arm over her head. Paul had got back in the passenger seat and Graeme was dipping chocolate biscuits into his tea at the small table . She plopped herself beside across from him with her own drink and reached over to him for a biscuit. "You know what I could really go for?"

"What?"

"A cheeseburger." She said, biting the softened biscuit. "A really juicy one with multiple layers and like, more cheese than meat."

He chuckled, "I'm surprised you eat stuff like that."

"Are you kidding?" She tapped her tummy. "Of course I do."

He raised his eyebrows, "What are you on about?"

"Come on, like you haven't noticed I'm not the skinniest girl in the world." She smiled a little and raised her eyebrow.

"You're mental. You're not _skinny, _but that's not a bad thing. You've got a lovely figure." She seemed to have knack for making him say exactly what he was thinking. She tried not to show how good his words made her feel.

"Thanks." She grinned into her tea. "So, Empire Strikes back, what's your view-count?"

He laughed and thought for a moment, looking into his mug. "That's a tricky one. Erm..." He scratched his head. "I would honestly say like over a hundred."

"Over a hundred?" She repeated with a disbelieving smile.

"I wouldn't be surprised."

"Okay," she chuckled, "favourite line: go."

"You can't just spring that one on me! You first." He took a sip.

"Definitely some of the Han/Leia sass that's in there. 'I don't know where you get your delusions, laser brain.'" She did a pretty accurate Leia impression that made him laugh in disbelief. "And um, 'You have your moments, not many of them, but you do have them.'"

"That's brilliant." He shook his head. "How long have you been into this sort of stuff then? Sci-fi and comic books and all?"

"My whole life I guess, my dad is a huge movie buff like me, and my uncle had a comic book collection like nothing you've ever seen." She took another drink. "It just sort of came naturally to me... What about you?"

"Since I was really little as well. I reckon my dad would have preferred me to have been a bit better at football and mum got a bit worried when I was fourteen and me and Clive spent whole summers in my room watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer and reading Terry Pratchett." He chuckled a bit and she smiled.

"Fourteen, huh? You guys have been friends that long?"

"Since we were kids, yeah. Sort of came naturally, we were into all the same stuff and no one else would talk to us." He shrugged.

"Yeah High School wasn't fun for me either. Had a small group of friends but people weren't very nice to us. Still, they haven't made first contact have they? The fuckers." She said, and they both laughed, finishing their teas, and each wondering how they could like the other any more.

Several more hours were spent sitting around, reading comic books and occasionally tiredly singing along to the radio. Clive and Paul played a couple of games of chess, and Elizabeth made a couple of dollars off Graeme on putting money on Paul. Eventually, Graeme was back in the drivers seat and Elizabeth sat back in beside him with her feet up on the dashboard.

"Hey there, sleepy face." Paul said, as Ruth emerged from the bedroom. Elizabeth just raised her hand in a wave without looking back, feeling thoroughly tired and sick of seeing the surrounding walls of the bus.

"Fuckeroo, that was the best titty-farting sleep I've ever had." She said, and Elizabeth snorted loudly, looking back at her.

"Uhh, I've got a feeling that you're new to cursing, Ruth. Look, cursing's fun but you've gotta pick your moments." Paul explained to her.

"Hey, maybe we should stop for food, is anybody hungry?" Graeme asked.

"I'm fucking starving shit." Elizabeth groaned.

"Fuck yeah!" Paul called animatedly, both of them destroying his point in one fell swoop.

"Ruth?"

"You bet your big fat cock I am." She said, and smiled proudly at Paul. Elizabeth just laughed and shook her head.

"I'm starving as well." Clive said from the chair.

"What's new, fatayy?" Paul chided, and Elizabeth giggled.

"It's not fat Paul it's power."

"Fat power."

"You're so rude."

"You're rude."

Elizabeth shook her head again and flipped the page of her graphic novel: Batman was taking down Two-Face and it was getting serious.

"I think I should call my dad." Ruth thought aloud, and came a chorus of 'what's' 'why's' and 'are you crazy's?'

"Well I've been gone a whole day and if he calls the police they're gonna be looking for us." She said, and Elizabeth looked at Graeme; she had a point. "If I don't we could all end up in Shitbutt City..."

"You're getting the hang of this." Paul complimented.

"Thanks, dickmilk." She smiled.

"Eh..."

"Look there's a bar and grill a few miles ahead," Elizabeth pointed at the sign. "Let's pull in there so Ruth can call her dad and I can get a goddamn burger and a beer." She stretched back against the chair.

"Sounds good, get some pizzas too." Paul said.

It didn't take too long to get there and it was almost dark when they pulled into the surprisingly busy parking lot. Elizabeth was glad to get out into the fresh air and stretch her legs. The cold hit her skin and made her shiver in that pleasant way that made her feel more awake and less stuffy.

"Right guys, act natural, we do not have an alien in our wagon." She said, crossing her arms. They made their way inside, Paul of course waiting on the RV, and tried their best not to be intimidated by how busy it was inside, and the several large men in cowboy hats. The band played a familiar tune over the noise of the place, though Elizabeth would be glad when they left again. It was too busy, too loud, and too like something from movies she'd seen.

"Okay, I'm gonna use the phone." Ruth said. "I won't be long."

"Be careful." Clive said to her, and Elizabeth smiled slightly.

They made their way through the gaggle of men to the counter and ordered three large pizzas, a burger and some beers to go, sitting at the bar for a while waiting for their food. They kept their heads down and occasionally took a sly look around, waiting for Ruth and their food. Elizabeth noted how out of place she looked, the denim skirt the only thing in keeping with the distinctly cowboy look of the place, she leaned on the counter, and saw a man further down the counter clearly eyeing her up. She hoped he wouldn't come over, but to her dismay, he did.

"Ain't seen you around here before," He swaggered over. He wasn't an ugly man, around her age, dark haired and clad in a plaid shirt and jeans like every other man in the bar, but not only did she not have time, but she had no interest. Graeme and Clive looked up, annoyance immediately on Graeme's face. "There's some awful cute glasses you got there." He wasn't looking at her glasses, in fact he was making no secret of looking at her body up and down.

"Thanks," she said quietly, smiling a small smile.

"Can I buy ya a drink?" He raised his eyebrow, leaning on the counter and standing uncomfortably close.

"I'm alright actually," she thought fast, "Me and my boyfriend just ordered some drinks." She illustratively lay her hand on Graeme's knee, smiling brightly. He looked confused and flustered for a moment, glancing from her hand to the man. He put his hand on his hip, and looked from Graeme to Elizabeth.

"This guy?" He said rudely, pointing to Graeme.

"Yep," she leaned over and planted a small, awkward kiss on his cheek, "he's my boyfriend alright." Graeme just dumbly nodded, placing his hand over hers on his knee and trying not to look too bewildered. The guy just looked at them another moment, and Elizabeth wondered if he was going to keep pushing it.

"Whatever you say." He shook his head, and walked away. Elizabeth sighed in relief and looked back at Graeme and Clive.

"Sorry," she said to him, "I just wanted him to go away."

"N-no need to apologise." He stammered, still somewhat feeling her hand on his leg.

"He was such a creep," She said, making face, "I'm going to go see where Ruth is." She stood from the stool.

"Be careful." Graeme echoed Clive as she walked away, squeezing through a group of men and passed a waitress. She stood on her tiptoes and only just saw Ruth's head between two men who were standing very close an were obviously drunk. Elizabeth frowned, immediately worried, and rushed over just in time to see Ruth knee the taller one in the groin right in front of her.

"Holy shit," Elizabeth shouted in shock, more than impressed, the younger one rounded on her and she recognised him as one of the hillbillies from Rachel. She was suddenly struck by adrenaline and sent a quick punch to his jaw, guessing that it was probably the right thing to do. Her hand stung, but he was knocked back slightly. "_Shit_, come on." She pulled Ruth through the crowd to get back Graeme and Clive, not usually one to get into fights.

"Guys," she tapped Graeme urgently on the back, "we have to go, right now." She and Ruth shooed them off the seats.

"What about the pizzas?"

"Hol-y shit... It's the space faggots, that dinged the Fuck-Mobile." The men had come over, and Elizabeth held Ruth's arm tighter, feeling protective. They all tried to quickly leave past them, but one of the men grabbed Elizabeth's arm hard and ragged her over, hurting her shoulder, his fingers squeezing her skin painfully.

"Ow!" She hissed.

"Oi! Get off her!" Graeme quickly pulled her away, and punched her captor hard in the nose, causing him to fall back into a table in a crash of glass and alcohol. Elizabeth gasped; she wasn't surprised he protected her but she couldn't deny being shocked at his bravery. She guessed it was kind of cliché how she became instantly more attracted to him after he punched a guy for her, but, she was. Pandemonium broke out around them, there wasn't anyone in the bar who wasn't fighting with someone else, and Graeme took the opportunity to grab Elizabeth's hand and pull her to the door.

"Ruth! Come on!" Clive went back to her.

"Papa?" Elizabeth heard Ruth call, and heard a massive bang, as Graeme ran with her out of the bar and into the parking lot, "What about my dad?"

The four ran as fast as they could toward the RV, hearing the two men gaining on them, they were almost at the door, and turned round, breathless.

"Leave us alone you stupid vaginas!" Ruth shouted at them.

"That's no way for a pretty little thing like you to talk!" The big one yelled back, still running for them.

"Leave this to me alright, I'll talk to them," Clive said breathlessly, and bravely turned around just in time to receive a flooring right hook to the face. They gasped, and Elizabeth pulled Ruth back from running to him. There was a moment where they backed up, Elizabeth mentally deliberating whether to stand and fight or make a run for it.

This was when the door of the RV burst open with a bang, and Paul stood there openly.

"Hey fucknuts!" The men stopped in their tracks, looking terrified. "It's probing time." Paul wiggled his finger. They promptly fell flat on their backs with a thud, and Elizabeth breathed heavily.

"Ha! Only one of us fainted." Graeme said in a high voice, as Clive got to his feet, holding his bloody nose. The sound of approaching sirens reached them, and they looked at each other worriedly.

"I'm sorry," Ruth said, going to Clive's side and holding his arm, "They answered the phone. They knew about us."

"Get in the RV." Paul said firmly, and they quickly complied.

* * *

**I love using the word 'pandemonium.'**

**-EJ**


	7. Pandemonium Strikes Back

**Warning! It's a bit rude this one!**

* * *

Adrenaline still rushed through Elizabeth as she got on, her emotions torn between extreme fear of getting caught, excitement at what had just happened, and a deep, primal attraction to Graeme for how bravely he protected her. She wanted to grab him and thank him and tell him how brilliant he was, but the sirens were getting closer, and Clive quickly started up the RV, while they all panicked and looked worriedly out of the windows.

He backed up and once again hit the truck from before, and they once again sped off down the now dark highway until the sirens were distant. The road was dark, and Elizabeth hadn't noticed how late it had got.

"We should pull over." Paul said, looking out of the front window.

"Shouldn't we keep moving?" Ruth asked.

"That's exactly what they expect us to do. Trust me, only an idiot would stop now." He said darkly, as the headlights shone on the sign to a wooded RV park. "Yeah! That's good pull in here. Perfect."

"What?"

"Paul?"

"We're idiots, remember?" He said, as Clive drove into the park and pulled in amidst a few other pretty identical looking RV's. Elizabeth finally sat down on the couch, letting out a long, shaky breath. Graeme got busy shutting all the curtains, and Ruth went to the bathroom to get some tissue for Clive's nose.

"You okay?" Paul asked, sitting beside her.

"Yeah, just feel like I'm in a movie. I've never been chased by the cops before." She laughed nervously. He laughed wryly, and Clive came to sit down with Ruth, tissue now hanging from his nose, and Graeme plopping down at the other side of Elizabeth. She looked at him, that feeling hadn't worn away any.

"What shall we do now?" Clive said through his bunged up nose.

"What about a hot chocolate and bed?" Graeme pleasantly suggested.

"What are you, my grandma?" Paul mocked, and Elizabeth chuckled.

"I couldn't sleep, I'm too pumped." Ruth said.

"Yeah me too. I'm wide awake." Elizabeth agreed.

"Let's get some beers, find somewhere to chill." Paul said.

"What if someone sees you though?" Elizabeth pointed out.

"It's night out there, besides, I can do this." Paul held is breath and disappeared, and Ruth looked taken aback though it seemed nothing could really shock her now.

"Alright, I'm in." She said.

"Ditto." Elizabeth stood.

"Rocky?" Paul said on an in breath, still invisible.

"Sure." Clive shrugged.

"Bullwinkle?"

"Well, I'm a bit tired." Graeme said.

"Don't be a pussy." Paul strained for breath, and Elizabeth laughed at Graeme's offended expression.

"Don't call me a p- Alright." He stood quickly.

"Awesome, let me get a jacket, I'll catch up with you guys." Elizabeth said, making her way into the back.

"Cool, we'll make our way to an off licence." Clive, Paul and Ruth got made their way off the bus.

"Erm- I'll wait for you," Graeme piped up, "Safer."

Paul and Clive gave each other a look.

"Yeah, safer." Clive grumbled, and they climbed off, closing the door behind them, and leaving Elizabeth and Graeme alone on the RV. There was instantly a slight tension in the air when the door closed, and neither of them spoke, just both laughed nervously, and Graeme put his hands in his pockets. Elizabeth looked at him, and decided resolutely that she was not going to miss this opportunity.

"Graeme." She stepped over to him. "What you did before in the bar, helping me like that..." She spoke softly. "It was amazing."

"Well," He could feel his heart thudding, "it was nothing." He tried to say casually. "I just wasn't going to let anybody hurt you."

She stepped a little closer, he could swear he could feel the warmth coming off her.

"I know, because you're such a good guy like that." She put her hands on the plaid shirt over his t-shirt, and held the material over his chest. He swallowed, and licked his dry lips. "But it wasn't _nothing_."

"Elizabeth," he said, and she looked up at him, and she hoped her face hadn't gone as bright red as it felt, "I said the other day that I'm really glad I met you and I meant it. I don't think you really know how brilliant you are."

Again, he made butterflies dance in her stomach, and her heart thud.

"Really?" She said softly.

"Are you joking?" He laughed nervously. "You're lovely, and funny, and gorgeous, and you like all this cool stuff and y-" Her arms looped around his neck and her lips were on his before he knew it, not fleetingly, but deeply, her incredibly soft bottom lip between his. His hands hovered over body and he was too stunned to react, it felt better than he ever imagined and he'd found himself imagining it a lot, and before he had time to kiss her back, she broke away breathlessly, her cheeks red and looking unable to meet his eye.

"Sorry, I-" It was his turn to cut her off now, and boldly held her waist, and pulled her to him, leaning down to kiss her again, firmly, and show her just how much this meant to him. The only downside to kissing her was that when he started, he never wanted to stop. She tasted _sweet_ and like nothing he would be able to replicate. His stubble tickled her chin slightly but she didn't care, she stood on her tiptoes and pulled him closer to her, pressing her body against him, and in return he looped his arms around her waist and held her tightly. The soft moan that escaped her lips did things to him, the sound so sinfully perfect he wondered how he was ever going to stop.

She found herself suddenly overwhelmed by how much she wanted him, the realisation that she didn't want to stop at just kissing him making her quiver. Finally, they moved apart, breathing heavily for air they had forgotten about taking in. She smiled at him and again he let out a breathless, shaking laugh, still in disbelief that he was holding and kissing this girl.

"Do you think we should go and find the others?" She whispered, her chest still heaving against him. She took a step back so her backside pressed against the table, pulling him with her, not wanting to let go as much as him.

"Yeah, we probably should..." His voice was shaky, his skin hot and his palms clammy with the nerves. She kissed him again, for no other reason than she really wanted to, and he kissed her back because there was no way he would ever want to deny her. In an act of daring that surprised even him, he held her hips and lifted her an inch to seat her on the table in front of him, and she responded in kind, promptly wrapping her bare legs around him and pulling him against her, making him let out a slight involuntary grunt against her mouth. Her skirt bunched up around her hips, so that the front of his jeans pressed against the thin cotton of her panties. She knew he wanted her, she could feel his already hard arousal pressing up against her, but he made no move to take it any further. His fingers ran through her already messy hair, and he experimentally moved his lips away from hers and trailed kisses down her jaw and the side of her neck, causing her to squeeze his hips with her thighs and moan.

"You're going to kill me if you keep making noises like that." He panted, moving from her neck to look at her flushed face, her eyes heavy lidded and alluring. She looked at him, and considered him for a moment, thinking about stopping herself, trying to reason that they didn't know each other well enough and that this wasn't like her.

"Listen," she fiddled with his shirt, and kissed his cheek, "I know this is quick, and this is a lot to say we only met a couple of days ago but..." She lay a kiss on his jaw, and shuffled her bottom back to hold the hem of her shirt, and quickly, before she had chance to feel insecure, pull it over her head. He went stiff. "If we get arrested in the next couple of days I really want to have done this first."

"Bloody hell," he said under his breath, feeling a bit embarrassed for staring but unable to stop himself. Her breasts, clad in a plain, not overtly sexy black bra were round, and perfect, and pushed together by the material displaying them to him. Her stomach was just as pale as the rest of her, but soft, and feminine and with just a little bit of a belly. She had every bit a woman's figure, and he slowly brought his slightly shaking hands to the defined curves of her waist. She was biting her lip when he looked back at her face, blushing and looking a bit anxious, as if he would think she were anything other than beautiful. "I- A- Are you sure you want to do this... with me?" He stammered, not knowing what he would do if she said no.

She just laughed, and pulled him close again, kissing him deeply and twining their tongues. That was all the answer he needed, and he touched her bare skin, creating searing heat where his hands were, and slowly brought his hand over her ribcage and to her breast, which he lightly kneaded in his palm, the feeling better than anything else.

She pulled away from his lips, and he looked at her questioningly. "This table's a bit small," she whispered, and he promptly took her waist again and lifted her from the table, her holding his shoulders and wrapping her legs round his waist, giggling as he carried her to the bedroom, and laid her slightly clumsily on his bed, kneeling between her legs.

"Sorry," he breathed, moving a little quicker and bolder now, as he began to undo the button of his jeans and she kicked off her sneakers and slipped her skirt down over her legs. She unzipped his jeans for him, her fingers fumbling and her knuckles brushed him through his boxers. He watched her as she tugged down his jeans, and he awkwardly maneuvered them off while she sat up and unclipped her bra. He let out a stifled a groan and moved toward her on his knees, and pulled down the straps of her open bra, while she held out her arms so he could slip it off. Her breasts were perky and full when revealed, her nipples taut from her arousal. He would've taken more time to savour her, but the urgency of the moment took over him, and he took just a moment to commit the sight of her bare body to memory, before slowly bringing his unsteady hands to the waistband of her panties. He looked at her again for confirmation, and she nodded all her senses heightened at his touch. He pulled them down slowly and carefully down her thighs, over her knees and off her feet, and she tipped her head back and fluttered her eyes closed. He quickly took off his shirt, slightly embarrassed, and chucked it somewhere in the dark.

"You're absolutely gorgeous." He leaned down to kiss her again, the only thing separating now being his boxers, the thin material firmly pressed against her wet folds. Elizabeth, not breaking their locked lips, reached down and tugged his boxers down. She didn't think she'd been so aroused so easily before, and tangled his hair in her fingers, kissing him hard and trying to convey how desperately she needed him.

"Graeme," she moaned, "I can't wait."

He swallowed deeply again, not sure how long he would last, and nodded, guiding himself toward her to run the tip of his length over her to check she was ready. She was more than ready, and he was surprised by his reaction to her. She whimpered, and arched her back, and he couldn't wait anymore.

It was only fifteen grunting, moaning, swearing, shouting minutes later that they collapsed together, the urgency meaning neither lasted long but both felt utterly sated. Elizabeth eventually peeled her sweaty body off his, and looked down at him. He let out a small laugh of disbelief and just pure happiness, and ran a hand through his hair.

"Well that was..." He didn't really know what to say.

"Yeah it was." She agreed, and they both laughed breathlessly. "I bet they're wondering where we are." She said, finding her panties on the floor and pulling them on under the sheets, she handed him his boxers and jeans, and he found his phone out of his pocket.

"I've got a text from Clive actually, '"_On the way back to the RV, there's some woods across town we can hang out in.'_" He read. _"'It's taking Elizabeth a long time to find a jacket, winky face.'" _

She blushed and chuckled, before her eyes went wide.

"Uh, when did he send that?" She asked.

"About five minutes ago," he got out of bed, and pulled up his jeans, fastening them over his ever so slightly chubby stomach. "Just about the same time you were on your kne-" He began, and she knelt up on the bed and put her finger on his lips.

"Look who's getting all naughty now." She said quietly, eyebrows arched, and kissed him once, softly. Before realising once again she'd become distracted.

"Oh shit, they're gonna be here any minute." She found her bra and put it on quickly, jumping out of bed and looking for her clothes. It dawned on him that them returning to find them both undressed in the bedroom wouldn't exactly look innocent, he hurriedly found his t-shirt on the floor and pulled it on, unable to notice how sexy the act of her slightly bouncing to pull her jeans on was in just a bra.

There was a heavy knock on the RV door.

"It's us!" Ruth called. Graeme rushed to the door, trying to look nonchalant as he opened it and let them in, just as Elizabeth put on her top and tried to flatten her hair a little.

"Heyy," She said brightly, appearing at his side. The three outside the door looked at them with a mixture of suspicion and amusement. Paul crossed his arms.

"That a new look you're trying there, Graeme?" He said slyly, and he and Elizabeth looked at each other. Her hair was incredibly ruffled and messy, and the lipstick she had on had all but rubbed off. Graeme's hair wasn't in a much better state, and more obviously, the picture on his shirt was on the inside... She put her hand on her forehead and shook her head, quietly giggling. "So, what were you guys talking about?"

"Probably his dick!" Ruth tried to joke, and the ridiculousness of it made Elizabeth burst out laughing.

"Come on, let's drink and talk about something else." She said, picking up her shoes. They all got off the bus again, but nobody missed the smile that Graeme and Elizabeth gave each other.

* * *

**Looks like our dear characters are getting pretty close.**

**-EJ**


	8. That Settles It, We're All Fucked

They all sat around the fire that Paul had built with ease in the forest, all on about their third or fourth beer and Paul lighting up a joint. Elizabeth noticed Ruth was wearing Clive's jacket, and smiled to herself, leaning her back against Graeme's arm and enjoying the moment of calm oasis in the middle of all the madness.

"You guys partake?" Paul offered, Elizabeth shook her head, not really in the mood for it, and Graeme and Clive declined as well.

"I'll partake." Ruth said, and they looked at her.

"Are you sure? It's pretty strong shit, I got it from the military. This is the stuff that killed Dylan." He laughed.

"Bob Dylan isn't dead." Graeme said.

"Isn't he?" Paul replied, and Elizabeth raised her eyebrow, trying to make a mental note to ask him about it later. Ruth took a long drink of her beer.

"Hit me," She said.

"Okay then, but, go easy on it." Paul passed it to Clive who slightly reluctantly handed it to Ruth. They couldn't blame her for wanting to try something new though. She sucked a little bit in, and blew out the smoke; they waited for her reaction. Elizabeth was quite surprised she didn't start coughing; most people did the first time.

"It's not so bad." She shrugged, handing it back. Elizabeth took another swig, and could feel Graeme's hand at the other side of her, discretely drawing circles on her side with his finger. It was lovely.

"It takes a minute to be absorbed into-" Clive started to explain, but was cut off by Ruth laughing hysterically, throwing her head back and falling to the ground. Elizabeth sat up and looked at her, chuckling a little.

"Uh Ruth?"

She sat up with a gasp, "I'm hungry, we should cook up some sausages. Do we have any sausages?"

"Uh..." Graeme said.

"What do you mean by that?" She frowned quickly at him, and Elizabeth made a face. "Why do you guys hate me? Can we cook up some sausages? Ooh, I have wasps in my brain!" She touched her hands on her head and fell down in a heap. Apparently she couldn't really handle it.

"She'll be fine," Paul said flippantly, "That happened to me the first time."

"Paul, I always wanted to ask... You know us now right?" Graeme said, shuffling forward a bit, Elizabeth sat up to grab another beer and crossed her legs.

"Yeah, we're bona fide BFF's." Paul replied. Graeme laughed a bit, before turning serious.

"Why are you in such a hurry to leave _now_?" He asked.

Paul breathed out a mouthful of smoke.

"Well, according to the government I've fulfilled my usefulness. I told them everything I know, the only thing I left off for them now are my abilities. The healing, the information transfer, the camouflage. In order to cultivate those abilities, they need some of my stem cells, and I'm not really down with that." He explained, and Elizabeth frowned in disgust. "Luckily, I do have one friend left on the inside. So I managed to get an SOS beamed into space. I got my people primed and ready to pick me up. Then, motherfuckers brought the procedure forward by a day, so my whole plan turned to shit."

"What happened?" Clive asked.

"On the way to the mental labs, I zapped my escort, I stole is car, I took off. Found you guys."

"So, what if they caught you?" Elizabeth asked, not sure she wanted to know the answer.

"Liz, they're gonna cut out my brain."

None of them really knew what to say to that.

"Yeah, it's fucked." Paul said eventually. "Kind of a buzzkill." Elizabeth couldn't help but be amused by his humoured attitude to it though. "Let's lighten the mood, shall we? Clive, when did you last get laid?"

Clive laughed and thought for a minute, "Oh, hmm... Collectormania London..."

"'08." Graeme said, nodding.

"Ewok chick." He said, reminiscently.

"Clive likes boning space bears." Paul sang, and Elizabeth laughed into her bottle.

"Shut up." Clive defended, laughing.

"No, but seriously, be honest with me. What was it like?" Paul asked.

"Well, she was _furry_ nice." He replied, smirking. Paul made a noise of disgust and Elizabeth almost choked on her beer laughing while Graeme fell into hysterics.

"That's disgusting! Oh, that's gross."

They all laughed like idiots for a while, and drank some more.

"So, how about you Graeme? As if I don't know." Paul said, giving Clive a sheepish look. Elizabeth threw a stick at him, missing by a couple of inches. "I knew you guys did it!" He exclaimed, throwing the stick back at her leg. Graeme went pink but he was still a guy, and couldn't deny feeling a little smug. "Is he any good then?" He asked, gesturing to Graeme.

"You don't have to answer that question." Graeme said to her, she grinned and shook her head, taking a drink while they waited for her answer.

"Let's just say you shouldn't let his sweet exterior fool you." She winked. Paul laughed loudly, and Clive leaned over the fire and high-fived his friend.

After a couple of hours of talking and laughing about anything and everything, they fell asleep, Elizabeth nestling into Graeme's chest again, and feeling more comfortable than usual on the dirt floor. Dawn was rising when she felt her shoulder being shook, and could feel the cold on her skin unpleasantly, her shoulder aching form it's odd position. Ruth clutching her arms, suggested they go back to the RV and take a bed, which at the time she was all too happy to do, leaving the boys (and Paul) snoring loudly around the dead fire.

They didn't take there time in tiredly trudging through the still empty town back to the RV, wanting only to get back to sleep somewhere comfortable.

"So you and Graeme fucked then?" Ruth said brightly as they walked. Elizabeth looked at her sideways, and laughed roughly, feeling half asleep.

"Yeah, but, don't say it like that." She rubbed her eye under her glasses.

"Wh- what does is feel like?" Ruth asked, tucking her hands in Clive's hoodie pockets. Elizabeth frowned.

"You really don't know anything about it?" She asked. Ruth shook her head. Elizabeth chewed her mouth, not sure if she needed girly talk or a sex ed lesson.

"Well, the first couple of times it sort of hurts, it's different for everyone though. You have to kind of make some room down there, but then it feels really, really good. It also depends on who you're with, not just the size but that they know what they're doing with it." She explained.

Ruth nodded a long, listening, and smiled. "Is Graeme's penis big or small?" She asked, and Elizabeth giggled girlishly, shaking her head.

"Let's just say his personality isn't the only great thing about him..."

They laughed on the way back to the bus, eventually sitting back in the living area and falling asleep where they sat, Elizabeth with her head leaned back on the chair. They slept for a good few hours before there was a knock at the door, and they both jumped awake.

"I wonder if it's the guys?" Ruth asked, standing up. She walked over and opened the door before Elizabeth could stop her, and there stood a very official looking man in a black suit and sunglasses. Elizabeth and Ruth sent a quick glance to each other in the doorway, before smiling at him and trying to act casual.

"Morning, my name is Agent Zoil, Secret Service, mind if I come in, as a few questions?" He said, holding up his badge. Elizabeth's heart started to race and she tried not to panic.

"No, do you mind if we do it right here?" Ruth asked.

"Okay." He replied, tucking his badge away.

"'Cause this place is a real... cocksucking mess."

Elizabeth nearly winced at her poor phrasing; he looked slightly confused.

"Got it." He said.

"We're looking for a missing person. You mind taking a look at these photographs?" He held up two pictures, one of Clive and Graeme in the grocery store with Elizabeth's arm just in shot, and a school picture of Ruth as a child still with her half-blacked out glasses on. "Do you recognise either one of these two gentlemen or the one eyed girl?" They both looked closely at the pictures, and pretended to consider.

"No, don't ring any bells." Elizabeth shook her head.

"No, me neither." Ruth said.

"Anything? Anything at all?" He pushed.

"Nope." Elizabeth said. "Sorry I wish I could help."

"Fair enough." He took back the photographs. "Where are the two of you coming from?"

"Austin." Ruth said, thinking fast.

"It's a good town." He said conversationally.

"Yes, yes it is." Ruth nodded.

"Excellent place." Elizabeth agreed.

"Okay, thanks for your time Mrs..."

"Darwin," Ruth said quickly, "Charrrl-lotte... Darwin." He turned to look at Elizabeth.

"Oh... yeah... me too." She said, hoping she sounded more convincing than she felt. "Lizzie Darwin... Civil partnership." She illustratively put her arm round Ruth's waist, while the two women smiled awkwardly.

"Okay, Lizzie and Charlotte Darwin, you have a great day?" Zoil nodded pleasantly, and walked away. Elizabeth quickly shut the door behind him, and they both breathed heavily, calming down.

"Good thinking on the Austin thing." Elizabeth said, running a hand through her hair. There was a knock at the door again and Elizabeth opened it this time. Thankfully, it was the much more pleasant face of Graeme, who looked slightly panicked.

"You are not gonna believe this." He said quickly, getting on the RV. "Those two agents from before are in town." He got behind the wheel and started up the wagon.

"Holy shit, have they seen Paul?" Elizabeth rushed to get into the passenger seat.

"I dunno, him and Clive went into a comic book store." He sped off out of the park and drove back into town to find the street they left them on. It looked like they were just in time, across the road were the two agents form before, one of them pointing a gun across the street to where a naked Paul and Clive in an alien mask holding a sword ran. Ruth tore open the RV door.

"Get on, buttcracks!" Paul and Clive wasted no time on jumping on the wagon, and Elizabeth looked out of the window in time to see a curly haired kid in a karate uniform kick one Agent Haggard hard in the crotch, making him keel over.

"Oh yeah!" Paul shouted.

"Who the hell is that kid?" Elizabeth called back.

"That's Keith Nash!" Paul said proudly, "Punch it!"

Graeme put his foot down and the sped off down the road, swiftly away from the two agents who did not seem to take chase. Elizabeth held onto the dashboard as they rounded a sharp corner and got back on the highway, and glance in the side mirror. An orange car seemed to be on their tail now, going much too fast to be a coincidence.

"Who the hell is that?" She yelled, looking back.

"Oh sorry, that's my dad!" Ruth moaned.

"That guy does not give up!" Paul said, "You kind of have to respect it."

"Oh Graeme drive faster." Clive said worriedly.

"Guys, calm down!"

"Those asswhores are gonna catch us!"

"Calm down!" Elizabeth said.

"Pull over!" Paul commanded.

"What do you mean, pull over?" Graeme said disbelievingly.

"Pull over!" He firmly repeated, and Graeme did so, sending the car skidding off the road and coming to a sharp halt behind a billboard. Thankfully, Ruth's dad kept speeding past, not noticing he had lost them. Elizabeth leaned back in the chair, and put her hands on her face; this was becoming all too familiar. Graeme turned off the engine and took a breath.

"Let's have a soda." Elizabeth sighed, standing and going to the fridge. She handed one to Graeme, and Clive and Ruth declined, and they all sat down quietly in the living area, Clive examining the alien mask with the bullet hole and touching his head. She saw Ruth put her hand on his arm comfortingly.

"Alright, that's it. This is too dangerous. I can make it on my own from here." Paul said firmly.

"What are you talking about? How." Elizabeth said; brow furrowed. She sat down, and cracked open her sugary drink.

"I'll boost a car or something; I can drive an automatic." He said.

"You're a terrible driver." Graeme pointed out.

"He's right, Paul. You can't even drive a spaceship." Clive sighed, and Elizabeth nodded.

"I'm close now." Paul said. "I'll be fine."

"Oh but we've come all this way." Ruth said sadly.

"Yeah, and at what cost, huh? I've shaken your faith, I've almost got you guys _killed_." He lamented. "I just want to get home."

"You are going home. I've think we've come too far to let you do this alone." Clive said firmly.

"Yeah, what happened to BFF's? We are in this together, Paul." Graeme agreed.

"You bet your hairy love eggs we are." Ruth added.

"Yeah, what she said but less gross." Elizabeth nodded. "The last few days have been crazy but they've also been kind of amazing." She said honestly, giving Paul a small smile.

"It's been the ride of my life!" Ruth agreed. "And I am fucked if I'm getting off this bus now." She stood up.

"Me too." Elizabeth stood.

"And me." Graeme stood next to her.

"Me as well." Clive stood.

"Well that settles it, we're all fucked." Ruth said, meaning it to sound more inspiring.

"Hell yes we are." Elizabeth smiled.

"Thank you guys so much." Paul said with sincerity. "If you're absolutely sure, there is a little something you can do for me." He pointed toward the Firework Shop the had inadvertently parked outside of, and Elizabeth, Graeme and Clive looked at each other with childish excitement.

"Oh fuck yes." Elizabeth said, grinning wide.

* * *

**Simon Pegg is just the most adorable thing on the planet, isn't he? He's like the human male equivalent of a baby bird's beak.  
****  
Also, can I get some reviews please? They make me feel warm inside. I'll reciprocate with copious internet cuddles.**

**-EJ**


	9. My Weed!

The three of them ended up wandering round the shop, Ruth waiting on the bus with Paul, looking for the biggest, baddest looking firework they could find.

"What about this one?" Graeme picked up a large black rocket.

"Too small." Clive said.

"Really?"

"Way too small." Elizabeth agreed, and Graeme chucked it to one side. That was when they saw the display of the firework called 'The Five Tones', the display had little cardboard flying saucers around it, and buzzed the five tones they communicated with aliens with from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

"Seems rather fitting." Graeme said, and Elizabeth and Clive smiled and nodded. They took it over to the counter, all kind of quietly appreciating something being simple for a change.

"That'll be $299.99, plus tax." The guy behind the counter said, as Clive took out his wallet.

"Hmm, same as the sword." Graeme nonchalantly commented, looking at a packet of sparklers. Elizabeth saw Clive chuckle to himself looking in his wallet, and she dreaded what he was going to say. He didn't actually say anything, he quickly grabbed the firework and set off running out of the store, it took Graeme and Elizabeth a confused couple of seconds before they jumped into action, sprinting after him towards the RV, the two men becoming breathless pretty quickly. The engine started and Paul opened the door for them to jump in, where Clive and Graeme promptly collapsed and tried to catch their breath.

"Christ, seriously, can we once just calmly walk onto this thing?" She grumbled and sat herself in the passenger seat, breathing heavily herself.

"Graceful." Paul sarcastically commented, as once again, they sped away from the scene of the crime.

They drove for a little bit longer, keeping up the speed this time, until they approached a sign reading: Moorcroft, Pop: 382. It looked to be a desolate place, all the houses clearly miles apart from each other, and surrounded by miles and miles of barren land. Elizabeth couldn't deny the place making her feel slightly uneasy.

"Is this where we've been heading the whole time?" Clive asked, as they drove into the 'village.'

"No, I just gotta make a quick stop first." Paul said, looking ahead resolutely.

"Do you really think we have time to be making little stops?" Graeme asked testily.

"This is something I really have to do." Paul insisted solemnly. They were driving down a long path toward a large house that sat on it's own, and Elizabeth wondered who lived there. It was odd to hear Paul sounding so serious. "Okay, stop here, this is close enough." He said, and Ruth put the brakes on. "We don't want to scare her." He said quietly.

"Scare who?" Ruth asked.

"Tara... Tara Wilton." Paul said, looking at them. "She's the girl that found me when my ship crashed in her garden and killed her dog. She took care of me; she was so kind. She deserves to get some sort of explanation before I leave." He said. They all understood then, and none of them could argue. Elizabeth looked at the house sadly and nodded.

"C'mon," Graeme said, "Let's go."

They all once again trundled off the bus, making there way up the path to the house with Elizabeth, Clive and Graeme leading the way. They got onto the porch and argued for a moment about who would knock.

"Who's there?" A female voice called from inside, making them jump.

"Is that Tara Wilton?" Graeme asked tentatively.

"Leave me alone." She harshly replied.

Clive cleared his throat, "Miss Wilton, my name is Clive Gollings, I'm here with my friend Mr Graeme Willy." He said formally.

The door slowly unlocked, and opened a little, the latch still fastened. An older woman they supposed must be Tara looked at them suspiciously.

"And what do you want?"

Clive and Graeme both looked at Elizabeth.

"We're... We're here with the alien that killed your dog 60 years ago..." She said softly, knowing how ridiculous she sounded. Tara looked at her a moment, and the door slammed. She sighed and looked at the guys.

"Let's go." Clive said.

"What is this? Some kind of a joke?" Tara opened the door fully, looking angry. They looked at each other again, and simply stepped apart to reveal Paul, who stepped forward, smiling and holding up his hand in a small wave.

"Hey Tara." He said brightly.

She gasped, "You." Paul just nodded, and for a moment they thought Tara might slam the door shut again, but instead, silently stepped back to let them all enter and file into the living room. The silence was palpable as she gestured for the five of them to sit on the couch, which they did, squeezing in together, and Tara sat on a chair across from them, just frowning at Paul.

There was a long while in which nobody said anything, just sitting with their hands on their knees.

"That's a very loud clock isn't it?" Graeme finally said with a small smile. The comment was ignored, and Elizabeth put her hand on his back.

"You have a nerve showing your face here after all these years." Tara said lowly to Paul, who uncomfortably scratched his neck.

"Maybe I should make some tea." Ruth suggested, clearly wanting out of the room.

"I'll help you." Elizabeth stood quickly.

"I'll do it." Tara insisted, scuppering that plan. Elizabeth and Ruth sat back down, awkwardly, as Tara went into the kitchen.

Paul let out a sigh, "Okay." He said, straightening his backpack and making his way over to the kitchen where she put the kettle on the gas. "Look, Tara."

"I only just stopped believing in you, you know?" She said sorrowfully, walking over to him. "I spent a very long time trying to convince folks about what happened that night. Everyone said I was mad! They told me it was a meteor that squashed little Paul." The four on the couch could only listen sadly. "They took me away and they did tests. They said it was for cosmic radiation. That I was concussed, hallucinating. But I knew you were real!" She pointed at him, pouring out her heart. "I pulled you from that spaceship myself. I kept you warm and comfortable. I sat there with you till the men came to take you away."

Paul looked up at her, guilt in his eyes.

"Pop tried to understand. But he would just smile and say 'There there, Tara.'" Well, word got out about my story, kids used to come and throw stones at the house, call me names. And I just hid myself away."

Graeme linked his hand with Elizabeth's on her knee, neither of them saying anything.

"I'd spend whole nights up there, staring at the sky just hoping I'd catch a glimpse of you. And here you are." She smiled sadly.

"I- I'm sorry. If I could have done it any other way, I..."

"Oh, it's okay." Tara said with tears in her eyes, and rested her hand on his head. "You're real. That's all that matters. I was right, and all those folks that said I was crazy? Well they can just go fuck themselves."

Elizabeth smiled, not noticing she had teared up, and Paul chuckled softly.

"Here, I brought something for you," he went in his backpack, "I thought you might want it back." He took out an old looking brown teddy-bear, and handed it to her. "Here you go."

She let out a teary laugh, and brought it to her chest.

"Oh thank you," she breathed, and smiled. They got to enjoy the beautiful moment of reunion for all of two seconds before the doorbell rang.

"Who do you suppose that is?" Tara said, confusedly, heading for the door.

The window of the kitchen smashed, and a can of tear gas was thrown in. Elizabeth was more angered by this than there personal attacks on them; it was one thing to go after them, but it was another to attack the house of an innocent woman.

"Holy shit! It's them!" They stood quickly, bringing their hands to their mouths as the gas went up their noses and down their throats. "Go go!" Paul shouted, ushering them out of the back door as another window was smashed by as masked man with an axe. Graeme didn't let go of Elizabeth's hand, pulling her along with him, towards the front door, which they kicked open and Paul promptly jumped on Zoil's back, his hand on his face, and eventually causing them both to fall to the ground, panting.

Clive bravely rushed forward and scooped Paul up, leaving Haggard pointing a gun at them.

"The alien! Give me the fucking alien!" He commanded, his hand holding the gun shaking. Clive backed up toward the front door of the house, and Elizabeth stood frozen, fists clenched.

"Get your own alien." He said shakily. Haggard let out a shout, about to squeeze the trigger. Elizabeth looked around for a weapon, but Graeme got there first, ripping a large old fashioned ornament from the wall and rounding the corner to smack Haggard hard in the face with a shout, causing him to stumble back and trip over Zoil, landing hard on his back.

"Fuck, let's run." Elizabeth shouted and grabbed Tara's hand, and Graeme grabbed hers, Clive still carrying Paul as they ran from the house, the two men on the porch getting up.

"Oh balls! It's my dad!" Ruth yelled, looking back at the approaching orange truck.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Elizabeth continued to pull Tara along, slowing her pace slightly given the woman's age. The sound of a gunshot going off and hitting the ground near them made them scream and duck as they ran for the truck, Graeme squeezing Elizabeth's hand tightly to make sure they didn't part.

"Ruth! Get back here!" Ruth's dad yelled, and Elizabeth looked back to see him holding his shotgun.

"Just go home!" Ruth screamed back. They got to the RV finally, and ripped open the door to climb on, when a huge explosion behind them rang in their ears. Graeme reflexively pulled Elizabeth under his arm as they all leapt out of their skins, as Tara's house went up in a cloud of fire and wood pieces, completely obliterated to the point that they could feel the heat from where they were. The black smoke surrounded the place, and Ruth looked back for her dad.

"Papa!" She shouted, running back down the path. "Papa!" Elizabeth reached out for her and shouted her back but she didn't listen.

"Ruth! Wait!" Graeme went after her, just catching up as her dad pushed himself off the ground. "Oh, he's alive! Come on!" Ruth started running back, as Graeme bent to get his breath a second, as he turned around to come back, a shot rang out and hit at his feet, making him fall to the ground.

"Graeme!" Elizabeth screamed, jumping off the stairs of the RV to sprint after him. She faintly heard Ruth call after her, but didn't stop, arriving at Graeme and pulling him to his feet. "Come on, come on!" She pulled him toward the RV as it sped past them, Clive kneeling in the doorway and reaching out his hand, Elizabeth grabbed it first, and he pulled her on, and then reached back for Graeme.

"Don't leave me!" He shouted, and Elizabeth held on to Clive's other arm so he wouldn't fall out of the bus. Clive got hold of his hand, and dragged him in firmly, Graeme falling on top of him like something out of a rom-com, punctuated by Clive's answer of 'never.' Elizabeth breathed heavily, awash with a sense of relief and pumping adrenaline. She grabbed Graeme's face, planting a firm kiss on his lips.

"Oh thank fuck." She breathed, holding his face when they parted and breathing raggedly with their foreheads together.

"Do you mind?" Clive said from the floor, rolling Graeme's off him.

"You scared the shit out of me." Ruth said.

"Hang on, who's driving?" Elizabeth asked with a frown.

"See, I can do it!" Paul laughed from the front. "It's easy!" Turning around, he did not see the huge wind turbine he promptly crashed through, as they all screamed. "Got it got it got it! Shit shit shit!" Paul span the wheel, the RV screeching as it turned and got back onto the road.

"Oh, my weed!" Elizabeth heard Tara cry from the back.

"Where are we going?" Elizabeth asked, scrambling to her feet and brushing her hair off her sweaty face.

"Lytle Creek!" Paul said.

They hammered it down the highway as fast as they could, but it wasn't enough to stop the black car of Agent Haggard pulling up next to them.

"Oh fuck, we got company!" Paul shouted, Elizabeth huffed and went to the fridge, no one paying attention to her as she took out a two litre bottle of soda "Should I ram him?"

"What about the deposit?" Clive said.

"Fuck the deposit." Graeme reached over and jerked the wheel so the RV rammed into the side of the car, which careened off the road onto the dirt, but managed to stay beside them. Elizabeth went over to the front of the bus resolutely.

"Watch it Paul," she leaned over him and leaned out of the window, tossing the bottle with all her strength and a grunt at Haggard's window, which promptly cracked.

"Jesus! Way to go!" Paul commented, impressed.

It didn't stop Haggard though, after the car swerved a little it re-straightened, and this time pointed a gun through the window at Paul.

"Shit!" Elizabeth covered her eyes uselessly, not seeing a way out.

"Smile you son of a bitch!" Haggard shouted.

"Eyes forward, butthorn." Paul casually replied, pointing in front of him. While they were safely driving along the bridge, Haggard yelled as his car flew off the side of a steep cliff, sending dirt and rocks falling behind it.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Ruth naively asked.

"Yeah, he'll be fine." Paul replied, glancing in the mirror.

Elizabeth sighed and crumbled onto the couch, finally taking some time to breath. Graeme sat beside her, and once again took her hand in his, twining their fingers together.

"That was bloody brilliant." He said to her quietly. She looked at him, and gave him a tired smile that he returned. Neither said anything, she simply rested her head on his shoulder, and enjoyed the two minutes of quiet as they made down the road.

* * *

**Shit just got real.**

**-EJ**

_What an absolute dick! Was re-reading this story and realised I didn't post this bloody chapter so the story just skipped really important parts. Well here it is now. _  



	10. The Adventure Ends

It was gradually getting darker, and the roads became more and more desolate as they went on, the sky still with a slight orange hue as it ran past the windows. The only regret Elizabeth had at that point was that she hadn't taken more time to look at the sky while they were in these unpopulated areas, it truly was beautiful. She changed into some nice denim shorts when feeling a little warm and Paul continued to drive the rest of the way, while Clive and Ruth talked a little to Tara.

"Graeme," Elizabeth said quietly, sitting down beside him, "when all this is over... Maybe you and Clive could extend your holiday a little? Ruth'll need a place to stay and I'll ask her to live with me for a while." She did a small smile. "I don't think I'm ready to say bye to you just yet."

He felt his chest swell with her words, and brought his hand to her cheek, not really caring if anybody saw.

"I can't really imagine when I'd be ready to say bye to you." He said, and she knew he was telling the truth. He kissed her forehead, and brought her close again.

"Uh-oh." Paul said from the front. Elizabeth's eyes snapped open.

"What?" Ruth said, standing up. It became clear what it was, the RV made some awful sputtering noises, and smoke seemed to rise from the front.

"Oh shit..." Elizabeth said, and Paul pulled over into some tree growth as the RV slowly died.

"It was sort of amazing it didn't happen sooner." Graeme said, standing up also and looking out of the front window.

They all got off the RV, and Clive examined under the hood for a while. It was definitely dead. The radiator was hissing from the heat, finally having had collapsed under the strain.

"Ah," Clive tapped it, "Fare thee well, my friend. You were a faithful and mighty steed."

"I can't believe she's gone." Graeme said, shaking his head.

"It's actually kind of sad." Elizabeth said, cocking her head.

"Ain't that a bag of tits?" Ruth sighed.

"Oh, what'll we do now Paul?" Tara groaned. "Paul?" She called, they looked up to see him making his way up a hill through the tree-growth.

"Paul, where are you going?" Graeme called after him. He didn't reply, and they followed him up, occasionally stumbling on the steep uneven ground. When they reached the top they saw what he was looking at.

"See? What did I tell you guys? You'd know it when you saw it." Paul said, looking up at them. Graeme and Clive both chuckled in disbelief, and Elizabeth looked in awe at the huge flat Devils Tower Monument.

Graeme and Clive looked at each other. "Of course." They both said, shaking their heads.

"Come on, let's get a little closer." Paul said, and they made their way through the trees a little ways until they found a clearing where they could send up the fireworks and signal Paul's people. Elizabeth hadn't noticed Graeme and Clive bring their head-torches with them again until they put them on, and even in the situation they were in couldn't help but laugh at the way it makes Graeme's hair look.

"Ouch!" Elizabeth hissed when a bit of uneven tree growth scratched her leg, making a cut.

"Are you alright?" Graeme asked urgently, rushing over to her, his torch flashing in her eyes a bit.

She examined the scratch, which was bleeding a little but stung more badly than it looked.

"I'll live." She chuckled a bit, but he still looked worried, though it was barely a wound. "C'mon, they're gonna leave us." She took his hand, and he looked down on it though neither commented as they stepped more carefully through the forestry until they reached an open area.

He and Clive went to examine the instructions on the back of the box of the fireworks, the others waiting impatiently why Paul smoked a cigarette.

"Can you just light the damn thing?" Elizabeth whined, crossing her arms against the cold.

"Firework safety is no joke, Elizabeth." Clive said like a parent talking to a kid, Elizabeth looked at Paul and rolled her eyes.

"What is the suggested safe distance?" Graeme said to Clive.

"Right, erm, 500 feet."

Paul groaned.

"That's going to put us behind the treeline. We're not going to enjoy the full effect." Graeme said, and they looked back. Elizabeth caught Paul's eye and nodded to the lighter in his hand, grinning mischievously. He caught on and lit the fuse, making Clive and Graeme jump and put it down, running away, Elizabeth giggled and ran after them, Paul behind her.

"Oh now you're running, huh?" He laughed.

"That's not funny that's dangerous." Graeme said, and Paul fist-bumped Elizabeth. They gasped as the firework flew into the air in a trail of sparks, exploding beautifully, impressively reaching across the sky above them. It felt a fitting end to the journey, a firework display under Devil's Rock, Graeme put his arm around her shoulder, and she stood close to him. It was almost sad really, it started to dawn at her that she would never see Paul again.

"What now?" Graeme said quietly.

"We wait." Paul simply replied. They watched the display play to its end together, eventually, when it had finished, moving to sit in a circle on the ground, and go back to talking like they had so many times over the past few days. Night drew in, and Elizabeth sat close to Graeme against the cold, tucked under his arm as did Ruth and Clive.

A very high pitched beeping noise in the distance made them look up, frowning, and a bright orange search light in the appeared, shining against the mist of the night. Elizabeth gasped and stood up, thinking this was it. She could hear Graeme breathing in anticipation, thinking this would be the moment that they would see a spaceship emerge from the trees.

"Wait a minute..." Paul said uncertainly. The source of the light rose up over the trees, but it wasn't a spaceship.

_"Stay where you are, you little green bastard!" _A harsh female voice over an intercom sounded from the helicopter, on which the searchlights pointed down at them, the wind from the blades whipping their hair and clothes around them as it landed in the clearing in front of them. Fear gripped Elizabeth, and cruel disappointment at how far they'd got. Three men hopped off the helicopter, their rifles trained on them, and off stepped a glamorously dressed older woman, looking as if she were on her way to a ball.

"It's the Big Guy." Paul said ominously.

"Well what do you know? Small world." She said venomously, hands on her hips. They raised their hands, and Elizabeth felt her self shaking, she'd never had a gun pointed directly at her before. With Haggard she'd known he didn't really have the guts, this was different, these men _would_ kill her.

"Paul!" The voice behind them made them whip round.

"Zoil?" He called back confusedly. A shot rang out from Zoil's gun, and nobody had time to react, to dodge or duck or anything. To Elizabeth's shock, the bullet flew far short of Paul, and landed firmly in the knee of one of the armed soldiers from the chopper, who screamed and fell to the ground. The other fired at Zoil, and they all fell to the ground, covering their heads as Zoil impressively invaded the shots, and landed another bullet in the second, and the third guard.

Elizabeth glanced up in time to see the woman take out her own gun, and shoot Zoil in the arm.

"Don't fucking move!" She said firmly, and they all stood up slowly, hands up and unsure of what exactly was going on.

"Okay, everyone be cool, everyone just be cool." Paul whispered consolingly.

"I gotta say, I'm a little hurt, Agent Zoil." The woman trained her weapon on him.

"He introduced me to my wife. He's my friend." Zoil said quickly, clutching his arm. It finally dawned on Elizabeth what had happened. He was the guy on the inside.

"You stupid son of a bitch. You could've been where I am in 15 years." She snapped.

"I don't wanna be where you are." He firmly replied, despite the clear pain in his arm.

"Too bad," she said smoothly, "Seeing as I'm the one holding all the cards, and when I say cards of course I mean, big fucking gun." She held it up.

"Very big gun." Paul fearfully whispered.

"Let's go Mork." She said, smirking at Paul.

"Don't call me Mork." He grumbled, as Clive and Graeme stepped in front of him.

"No," Clive said, "No he's going nowhere."

She laughed mockingly at the sight, and Ruth and Elizabeth both pulled Tara over to them. "Can it nerds. Shit I'd shoot you now if I didn't get off on the idea of the both of you hog-tied and pissed on in Guantanamo Bay."

"They've shut Guantanamo Bay." Graeme said with a hint of triumph.

"Did they?" She smoothly mocked. "Be honest with yourself, what do you think you can honestly bring to the table at this point in the game?"

"Blind fury." Clive dramatically whispered, and went to pull the sword off his back. Which horrifyingly, promptly snapped at the handle. Elizabeth winced at the sight, and Clive's scared 'oh.'

"Step aside, fag." She said to him.

"Graeme," Clive said in Klingon, and then something else that Elizabeth didn't understand but Graeme clearly did. Clive quickly stepped to the side, and Graeme lunged forward and landed a hit on the woman, making her nose bleed. Elizabeth jumped and took a quick step back.

"Insane!" Paul shouted, but it didn't last long, when he went to strike again she blocked it and hit him hard, before bringing her knee to his gut and beating him to the ground. Clive tried to wrestle the gun off her, but she easily knocked him to the ground. It was Ruth and Elizabeth's turn to rush forward now, Ruth jumping onto her back, before being easily thrown off. Elizabeth hoped she could remember enough of the year of karate she did when she was ten or Rocky II or something, and her rage at seeing her friends beaten down by the woman made her brave.

She lunged forward and swung the heaviest punch she could muster at the woman's jaw, knocking her back, she used her stunned state to send a hard kick to her stomach knocking the wind out of her, Elizabeth then following her instincts used her elbow to crack the woman between the shoulder blades, making her let out a grunt of pain and stumble forward slightly. But where Elizabeth was not trained, this woman clearly was and came back her, swiftly sweeping her legs from under her and making her land painfully on her back.

The damage she had done was enough for Tara to step in.

"Get away from her you bitch!" To Elizabeth's great shock, she landed a punch that knocked the woman flat out on her back.

Elizabeth sat up, panting.

"Holy shit, well done." She said up to Tara in disbelief.

"Where the hell did you learn how to do that?" Paul said to Elizabeth in shock, helping her to her feet. Elizabeth just shrugged, shaking and unsure herself. She walked over to Graeme and helped him up, his lip was bloody but he seemed generally unharmed.

"Are you okay?" He asked, breathing heavily, and she nodded. "That was amazing, you beat the shit out of her." She laughed breathlessly, and they walked painfully over to where Zoil and Paul were talking.

"I see you got a plan B, huh?" He said.

"Yeah," Paul nodded. "These are my friends."

"Nice to meet you guys, you did a hell of a job." He shook Clive's hand, and then Graeme's.

"Thank you, Agent Zoil." Clive gratefully replied.

"Please call me Lorenzo." He said breathlessly.

The three sent a quick glance to one another.

"Lorenzo Zoil?" The chimed simultaneously. He looked at them with a face that said, 'I know.'

"That's right." He replied.

"Ruth?" The last voice they expected to hear called across the clearing.

"Papa?" She shouted back in disbelief. He held up a copy of the Bible with a bullet in it, and positioned his shotgun on his forearm. A chain reaction was caused: Elizabeth shoved Paul to one side, and Graeme shoved Elizabeth, knocking her to the side. The shot rang out loudly, and there was a second of absolute shocked silence. They all gasped and looked down at themselves.

"That was close." Graeme said. Elizabeth looked up to him, and felt herself almost faint, vomit, scream and cry at the same time. All colour drained from her face, and her eyes went wide. Graeme looked down at himself, and saw the gaping hole in his chest, pouring with blood. "Oh, my!" was all that came from his mouth, and he fell to the ground.

"Graeme! No!" Elizabeth screamed, scrambling forward and falling to her knees next to him.

"Oh, God Graeme!" Clive fell at the other side of him, he and Elizabeth both pulling him and supporting his head. Tears fell from her eyes immediately, feeling utterly, utterly helpless. "Graeme!"

"I never met to..." She faintly heard Ruth's dad say, and heard Ruth scream at him to 'drop the fucking gun,' which he did.

"Graeme," she touched his cheek, "Graeme, Graeme please look at me." She cried, her voice broken.

"Oh no," Graeme sobbed, clutching Clive's hand, "I really liked this t-shirt."

"This is all my fault," Clive cried, sniffing, "we should never have come on holiday."

"No, no. It's fine. It's fine, Clive." Graeme's voice started to wobble from the loss of blood. "We've had a good time haven't we?"

"Yeah, but you got shot." He whimpered back.

"Yeah I know, but I can honestly say, that this is the most fun I ever had." He smiled a little up at his friend and then at Elizabeth, and in that moment, Elizabeth's heart broke for herself, for Clive and for Graeme.

"Graeme," she gasped, as his head lolled back, and his eyes glazed "Graeme no." Tears poured down her cheeks. "Graeme I'm- I'm not ready to say bye yet!" She said desperately, rubbing his cheek, feeling the tears drip off her chin. She heard Ruth sobbing.

"Graeme?" Clive said, and she saw his hand slip from his, and he squeezed it again. "Graeme?" He sobbed, and Elizabeth sobbed with him in despair. She'd never known what it was like to feel heartbroken before, she'd never really known what it meant, but in that moment she truly knew. A physical pain wracked through her, starting at her chest and filling her entire body. She almost wanted to close her eyes, and open them again, and have this all be a dream.

Paul clapped his hands together, standing over them.

"I've got to try, right?" He said softly.

"Yeah?" Clive looked up at him.

Elizabeth just nodded, shaking, not willing to let go of Graeme's now limp body.

"Paul, think about this." Zoil said, as Paul laid his hands at either side of Graeme's wound. He grunted with effort, clearly using all his strength, and Elizabeth watched, her chin quivering and desperately trying to hold onto that last scrap of hope. Slowly, ever so slowly, the wound began to close. Elizabeth gasped as she saw it open instead on Paul's chest, and the blood ran down his stomach. It seemed as if Graeme's chest were sewing itself back together, and she watched as Paul let out a loud groan, and Graeme's skin closed up again. Paul flew back, landing on the floor, and Graeme's eyes shot open, as he gasped for air.

"Oh," Elizabeth cried, and Clive breathed in relief, not bothering to hide his own tears. She leaned down and kissed his forehead firmly, her tears dripping onto his skin as she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Paul?" Ruth looked over at him, and Elizabeth looked up at his limp body on the ground. He said himself that it might kill him. She wasn't sure she could handle two of her friends dying in one night. They all held their breaths and waited, until finally, Paul coughed and breathed heavily, sitting up, and noises of relief went round.

"Thank God." Elizabeth gasped, and sat Graeme up some more pulling him in close and kissing his cheek firmly.

"Oh that sucked, I don't even get to eat him." Paul joked, panting. They all laughed quietly in relief and stun, as Graeme sat up fully.

"Wasn't that really, really dangerous?" He said to Paul.

"Sometimes, you just gotta roll the dice." He echoed his words from before, and Elizabeth smiled, wiping her face.

"It's a miracle!" Ruth's dad shouted, and laughed madly. "The lord, has delivered, his healing hand!"

All they could do was look at him with disbelief.

"Just can't win with these people." Ruth said, and Elizabeth chuckled wryly, turning back to Graeme, never feeling happier to see someone just _breathe_ than she did in that moment.

"Thanks for not dying." She said shakily.

"You're welcome." He whispered, and put his hand on the side of her face and tucked her hair behind her ear. He leaned forward, and kissed her firmly, and she kissed him back with passionate desperation, showing how glad she was to be kissing him again. She almost felt herself start to cry again, but it wasn't because she was sad this time. He touched his tongue to hers, and locked and unlocked their lips, as she rubbed the hair and the nape of his neck. Losing him, and having him back and kissing him again made her never want to stop.

"Ahem," they broke apart at the sound of the female voice. The 'Big Guy' had stood up again, her gun trained on them.

"Well ain't th-" They all jumped in shock as the stairway of nothing other than a spaceship squashed her like a bug.

Elizabeth became breathless with awe. She'd seen saucers like it in so many movies and books, but nothing could have prepared her for having the real thing, shining and silver and amazing in front of her. She clutched Graeme's hand, and they stood up, in utter shock at what was in front of them. Down the steps came several aliens who all looked just like Paul although with slightly different features at times. The thing was, it didn't shock them at this point; they'd spent so much time with Paul that a bunch of his friends were no problem.

Paul walked over to them, and send something in their language, as Graeme buttoned his shirt over the hole in his t-shirt.

"Graeme," Clive walked over to them, "Spaceship." He pointed at it, and Elizabeth chuckled.

"Yeah. I know." Graeme grinned excitedly, as the other aliens got to work on fixing up the injuries of the soldiers and Zoil, one of them even hosing the Big Guy off the bottom of the ship.

They stood and watched, Clive walking over to Ruth, and saying something quietly to her that made her smile. Elizabeth looked at Tara, and at Paul, and at the sight in front of her and smiled wider. All in all, it had probably been the best few days of her life. An idea struck her.

"Hey," she took Graeme's camera out of his back pocket, and handed walked over to one of the fixed up soldiers, "Could you take a picture of us?" She asked, not caring how ridiculous the request was. He obliged, following her.

"Okay, everybody gather in, gather in," She turned them all to face the camera, "And smile!" She put her arm round Graeme's waist, and he pulled her close, they all grinned and the flash went off. "Hey, thanks man." Elizabeth walked over and took the camera from him, checking it out with the others looking over her shoulder.

"Looks pretty good." Ruth said.

"It's a nice one of you." Clive complimented, and she thanked him. Paul walked over to Ruth, and Elizabeth looked away. She could feel that it was time to say goodbye, and knew it had to be personal. She faintly heard them talking, as Graeme and Clive talked about the ship and took photos like excited schoolboys on a field trip. She saw him talking to Zoil, and they shook hands affectionately.

"Hey, Liz." He walked over to her. "Thanks for everything." He said. "Thanks for being so cool this whole time, I know it's not been easy."

She smiled down at him. "Easy: maybe not. Fun? Oh yes." He laughed softly, and she looked at him a moment, feeling herself well up a bit. She bent down and hugged him round the middle; he hugged her back gently. They pulled apart, and she tried not to cry for the second time that night as she walked away, and she re-joined Clive and Graeme.

"You okay?" He asked.

"I'm awesome." She replied honestly, glancing back to see Tara heading onto the ship, and smiling up at her. She deserved to go.

"Yeah! She's alright!" Paul called up to his people, and said something in their language. They gathered round, as Paul turned back from the shining stairs.

"Gentlemen," He said to Graeme and Clive.

"I um, I meant to ask, what did you think of the book?" Clive asked.

"I liked it actually, I really liked it, I thought there were a lot of good... Ideas there." He said, not very convincingly as he took it from his bag. "Uh, I can't of found it hard to finish, to be honest."

"Yeah, yeah, me too." Clive laughed a little.

"You know, as I always say, 'You have to spin a good yarn before you can weave a great dream.'" Paul said.

Graeme made a face, "That's what Adam Shadowchild said."

"That asshole! He stole that from me!"

"Huh," Graeme said, "he was about of an arsehole actually."

"Yeah he was." Clive agreed.

"Total prick." Elizabeth added.

They shared a small laugh.

"Well it's safe to say we all learned something from this. Be yourselves. Speak from your heart. Some shit like that, I don't know." He shrugged.

"Yeah, you know, I certainly feel a bit different." Graeme said thoughtfully.

"And me." Clive agreed.

"Thank you guys." Paul said truthfully. Elizabeth felt that lump in her throat again, and smiled down at him.

"No, thank you." Clive said.

"Yeah, thanks Paul." She heard Graeme's voice crack.

"Hugs?" He offered, and Elizabeth stepped back to allow them to have moment, smiling as they both brought Paul in tightly.

"Clive, I can feel your boner." Paul said, and they broke apart, laughing a little. "'Til next time." He waved back at the, walking up the stairs. They backed up, watching Paul disappear into the light of the ship. It started to whir to life, the lights shining red. "Goodbye!" He called. What looked like lightning burst from the top of the disc, and it flashed as it began to make it's way into the air. "See you! Goodbye!" He continued to wave. "This ship takes off very slowly! It's a little awkward! Goodbye!" He waved, and they laughed breathlessly as he stepped inside, the stairs closing up as the lights shone amazingly, and the ships landing legs folded up, flying into the air. As if that weren't amazing enough, and orange beam of light took it, for in the scar, camouflaged against the stars appeared a vast mothership, encompassing every design and image they'd ever imagined a spacecraft to be.

It disappeared into the sky, and just as quickly as their adventure had begun, it came to it's end.

"Well," Clive said, looking between them all, "That was good, wasn't it?"

"Meh." Elizabeth shrugged, grinning at the two.

* * *

**Yay! **

**Hey guess what? You should totally review this. I'll buy you a drink. **

**-EJ**


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